Becoming
by LanaaLuthor
Summary: All Jessica knew was that she wanted Lex. Until one day when her best friend was shot... /story of Jessica & Clark with an identity twist/
1. Part 1 - Ignition - chap 1

**Description**: All Jessica knew was that she wanted Lex. Until one day when her best friend was shot... /story of Jessica & Clark with an identity twist/

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**A/N **I took one scene from my other fanfiction, JeXVille (Jessica&Lex), and changed it. It's the beginning of a completely new story. I will explain all the events that led to the first chapter in here, but if you want to read about them thoroughly – go to my JeXVille story (first chapter till the one with mortal/hidden eps in it).

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There's trailer - go to my profile

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**Part 1**

_I was naïve. I came to Smallville and ended up with a crush on the most powerful man living there, the billionaire, Lex Luthor. I didn't listen to my friends telling me that he could be dangerous to me. I was so captivated by him. It was a stupid teenage crush, I guess. _

_ He didn't want me. He saw me only as a friend. I spent some time with him, hoping for something, because I couldn't stay away._

_ Until one day when he came to my apartment and tried to force himself on me. _

_ I pushed him away just in time. If I'd let things go any further I would've never forgiven myself. Luckily for me, I realized that something was wrong just in time. I realized that this wasn't the same Lex I knew. He hadn't kissed me before that day and suddenly, he was taking me into his arms, his mouth devouring mine, his body grazing against me. _

_ And then I found out that it was actually Lex, a part of him, the darker one. He'd been split into two when something had gone wrong in LuthorCorp lab._

_ Since that day I've been avoiding him. Both because I didn't want to get hurt with him not feeling the same way and because I was afraid he might after all not be good. _

_ One thing bothered me, though. If Lex with no inhibitions, with no goodness in him, had come after me, wanted to claim me… it meant he had some feelings for me deep down inside. Only I wasn't sure if I wanted to explore them anymore._

_ After that day another tragedy happened. Lana died._

_ I'd come to Smallville in the first place, because she'd invited me to. I couldn't find myself in Metropolis, raised by my uncle. _

_ Mine and Lana's parents had been together the day of the meteor shower and they'd been killed. _

_We'd been friends since we could remember, so I'd taken her on that invitation and come over there. She'd been happy then, running the Talon, having Clark Kent for a boyfriend. And I'd been crushing on Lex who'd been about to get married to Helen Bryce._

_Then she'd tried to kill him. Clark had run off… that had been one of the worst summers in my life. Lana had been hurting. I'd been hurting…_

_And now Lana was dead. Killed in the second meteor shower._

_All that I had left was Clark and Chloe. The latter not really my close friend._

_This was the day everything changed. My life, my heart, my affection, my eyes… all turned in a completely new, different direction. All started with my best friend getting shot and… coming back to life._

_Here my story really takes its beginning… how from a meaningless redhead, I became the most important woman for somebody extremely special. _

_This is our story. It's not happy. It's not all sorrow either._

_It's just how life works…_

_My name is Jessica Hamby… or at least it used to be…_

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(spoilering _Hidden)_

Through the next couple of days Clark had changed so much that it amazed Jessica. He'd been acting a little different since the meteor shower, but now… she had the impression that some huge burden was taken away from his shoulder, like he wasn't "carrying the whole world" on them anymore.

When she told him that, he laughed, "I'm the same old Clark, Jess. Maybe now… I'm just more aware of… you know… everybody around me… of things I can lose…" Still, it seemed like he came up with this when she asked.

With Chloe away all the time – she'd been doing her best to get an internship in the Daily Planet – Jessica was left alone with Clark and they grew much closer than ever before.

He was her rock while she was feeling down because of Lana's death.

And then, just when she thought her life would finally go on, that she would go to college, get to know more people while still be friends with Clark and Chloe… Clark got shot.

First Jessica thought it was some kind of a sick joke. Clark? Clark shot? Clark had never got hurt before! He was the one people expected to save them!

And now Jessica was rushing to the hospital as fast as she could.

_Please, please God, don't let me lose him, too!_ she was praying silently while driving.

God must help her, right? She couldn't lose more people! Clark was the one who'd been there for her when she'd been suffering because of Lex and he'd never lost his patience with her. He'd helped her to get over Lana's death as well.

What would she do without him? He was her dearest friend now.

She stopped the car, got into the building, then to the right floor and, while passing by Clark's parents that were sitting in the hall, she sneaked into his room.

She had the impression that she shouldn't be in there, but she didn't care. She just needed to see if he was alright and then she could leave him, so that the doctors could take a proper care of him.

She stopped before she reached his bed. His powerful body was lying motionlessly on a cot. It was so weird, surreal, even bizarre, like in a nightmare. Only it was happening for real.

"Clark?" Jessica whispered, but he didn't answer. She wanted to touch him, to hold his hand, to tell him that everything would be alright. That he would come out of this, get better. That he would live.

She made another step forward and the machine he was connected to started beeping.

That could mean only one thing…

The doctors burst through the door, brutally shoving her aside to gain access to Clark's cot.

"Clark? Clark!" Jessica screamed. "What's happening?! He'll be alright! He will be, right?!" she asked them, panicking, desperation in her eyes. She couldn't lose him.

"Take her out of here!" somebody said and she was thrown out.

She could only watch what they were doing through the glass wall and then…

"We lost him…" the doctor sighed. "Time of death…"

She felt numb. Stunned.

_Time of death?_

No! No! Clark couldn't be dead! NO!

"NO!" Jessica screamed out loud and that was when Mr. and Mrs. Kent got to her.

"Jessica? What…" Martha Kent stopped when she saw Clark's limp body.

"NO!"

"Martha…" Jonathan got closer and took her in his arms, but Jessica could see the break coming in him, too.

She had to get out of there… she had to… run…

She walked out of there, got to her car and drove to the farm, then ran up the nearest hill, quite close the place where she'd seen the spaceship after the last meteor shower. The one that killed Lana.

_Why didn't you kill me there, aliens?_ She thought. _Why?! It would've been so much easier for me now if I wasn't even here!_

Her legs were shaking, whole body trembling. She got to her knees. She couldn't stand the pain in her chest, in her heart. Why had she had to lose everybody that was dear to her? She laid down on the grass, hugging her body tightly with her arms, sobbing.

She didn't know how long she'd been there, crying and feeling like the life had been taken away from her as well.

Who did she have left now? Only Chloe… but the truth was that she'd never been so close to her. She wouldn't tell her all her secrets. She would tell Lana, she would tell Clark, but not Chloe, not everything. Chloe didn't even know that Jessica had been in love with Lex!

What should she do now? How would she pick herself up again?

She knew she would have to. She had to get through this like she was always getting through things, but the real question was _how_?

Lex… he was the only one she cared about now… or had used to. She could go to him. She didn't care if she would feel something for him again, she just needed somebody she could trust. Maybe it wasn't too late... maybe he would still like to get back to what they'd had once.

With that decision Jessica raised herself up. For him. She still had him, so she could go on, she could manage to get through this. She didn't think about a romantic relationship right now, she just needed _somebody_, anybody close to her, a shoulder to cry on. She knew that when she would find herself in the mansion Lex would just put his arms tightly around her, making her feel less and less hurt until the pain would go away completely and all that would be left would be Lex himself. Then she was sure her old feelings would resurface right away, but she had no other choice. She needed that consolation.

When Jessica descended the hill she noticed lights up in Clark's farm and then heard… could it be… laugh?

Why would Jonathan and Martha Kent laugh when their son was dead?

She couldn't leave it like that so, instead of getting to her car and driving over to Lex's, she just reached the Kent's door and knocked.

Martha opened.

Jessica wasn't wrong. She was definitely smiling. Maybe she'd gone crazy? It could happen after losing the only child one had. Add to that it was an adopted child.

"Oh God… Jessica… we've been calling you for hours!" she exclaimed and opened the door wider for the redhead.

And then… when Jessica actually went inside… she could only stand still, because her legs for the second time that day got too tired of supporting her weight. She would collapse on the floor right on the spot if she didn't lean against the table.

Clark was there.

Standing in the middle of the kitchen. Alive. Like nothing had happened. Like she hadn't seen him dying.

He rushed to her and took her in his arms.

She could now let go off the table, because she didn't even need to make much of an effort to stand. He was there, holding her so tightly she just went limp in his strong embrace. She felt his warm, his arms alive around her. She felt the beating of his heart through his shirt.

"We were just going to Metropolis, so we'll leave now and give you two some privacy," she heard Martha Kent saying like from far, far away and the door shut.

Jessica vaguely wondered why his parents would just leave like that. Didn't they need any explanation? And if they got one, wouldn't they prefer to stay the night in the house? Spend the evening with their son? Or were they so used to Clark and strangeness surrounding him that it was just another day in the office for them?

Jessica was aware of all that weird things connected to him, too, but he'd never before _died._

She didn't want to think now. She just wanted to feel, to surrender to him, to feel him by her side. There was that sudden urge inside of her that didn't let her let go off him. That told her to hold onto his body even tighter.

All that she was aware of was Clark's arms around her, so strong, so broad. His heart beating fast, her breast flattened against his chest, the smell of his skin, the heat coming from his body, his hands slowly caressing her back soothingly, his neck right next to her cheek.

"H…how…?" she finally managed to articulate. "How… how it this possible?" she finished.

He pulled away a little, his hands shifting to her shoulders, holding her like he was afraid she really might fall down.

"Does it matter? I'm alive," he just said, lifting his right hand to her cheek and caressing it. She leaned into his hand and didn't even notice. His lips parted slightly at the sight of her face showing pleasure.

"But how? I saw you dying…" she prompted, waking up, trying to stand on her own, trying to think clearly. She needed answers. "People just don't raise from the death!"

"Jess…" He looked her deep in the eye and it made all the air escape her lungs. "I didn't die, isn't it obvious?" Then when she was about to ask another question he surprised her when he came closer and suddenly she felt his lips on hers.

There was so much going on in her head that she couldn't comprehend it. She'd been grieving a moment before, feeling such a pain that it was unbearable for her. She was angry, curious, needed to know the truth behind it all. She was also relieved, happy that Clark was alive. Confused and disappointed with herself that she'd been so ready to go over to Lex for consolation. Who knew what would've come out of _that._

And now, when Clark kissed her, all that thoughts and mixed feelings disappeared, leaving only one, new. And it was _need. _Desire for him that went so deep she could feel it in her bones. She didn't understand how it happened or where it came from. It was sudden. Like a lightning strike. It would've knocked her off her feet if he hadn't held onto her already.

She'd felt like she'd been slowly dying with her parents gone, Lana, Lex, who wasn't dead, but they'd grown so much apart.

And now Clark was there putting the life back into her.

She lifted her arms, brushing his chest with her fingers, put them around his neck, raised on her toes and kissed him back. Kissed him back with her full force.

As his tongue licked her bottom lip she moaned quietly and opened for him. Their kiss growing more urgent, more hot, more demanding. Tongues battling for dominance.

His strong hand were now sliding down her arms, then she felt them on her back, getting lower and lower until they rested on her hips. For a moment there she though he would cup her bottom. Instead he brought her body closer to his, her pelvis now right next to his. She felt the hard bulge in his pants and it was like she was struck with a fever. Wave of heat splashing down from her head to her core.

Clark's lips descended to her neck, so she took a deep breath and moaned again, couldn't stop herself from grazing against his erection. As a respond Clark groaned deep in his throat and his hands laid when she wanted them to, on her bottom, squeezing and bringing her even closer to him.

And then his right hand was on her left breast. Her hands under his shirt, getting to know his toned chest, grazing against his six pack.

"Jess…" Clark uttered, his breathing as heavy and erratic as hers now. "Jess… what are we… do you…" He closed his eyes and forced himself to take a step back from her.

She was disappointed as she lost the contact with his body. She felt too cold, too exposed. She needed him back there. She needed more than that. Her inner channel was pulsing with urgent need. She _wanted _him.

And hour ago she would've never believed she would want to have sex with him. With Clark. Her best friend. She would've laughed, said she'd actually wanted Lex.

In fact, she wanted Clark.

"Do I what? Want this?" she asked, looking at him.

Finally he opened his eyes.

"Yes, do you want it?" he asked.

"If I didn't I would've pushed you away. You know I'm not easy… I never really.." she stopped, horrified at what she just revealed.

"Me neither," he admitted.

"Really?" she asked.

She knew from Lana that she and Clark had never slept together, but there'd been Alicia and there could be someone else.

"Really. And I want nothing more than to be with you. _Now,_" he added, his voice urgent.

She felt like she was going to melt under the power of his gaze. He was looking at her like she was so special, like she was the only girl in the world. Or the most beautiful one. She'd never experienced something like that before. When Lex had been split and his evil side had visited her, he'd looked at her like he'd just wanted to take her, to possess her. Clark's look was different. It told her she was about to be taken, yes, and taken with passion, but she would be also cherished. Not hurt. Never hurt.

"Oh God…" she just uttered and closed the distance between them, put her hands on Clark's face, brought him down for another kiss.

As soon as his lips touched hers again the fire spread.

She barely felt him lifting her off the ground and placing in his arms. He was so strong, it was like it took no effort for him, like she was a feather.

That made her want him more. He was strong and she seemed to be so fragile by him.

They suddenly found themselves in Clark's bedroom and she was gently placed on his bed.

Clark was there right away, hovering above her, supporting himself on his elbows as he was kissing her lips, then descending lower to her neck.

She pulled on his shirt, trying to get it off of him, but she couldn't. He took the hint and helped her out, then started kissing her again.

She loved how toned his chest was, how it felt underneath her fingers. Her hands were wandering all over it and, as her fingers grazed his nipples, he groaned into her mouth, pushed his pelvis into hers.

"Yes," she murmured, "yes, Clark… just take me…"

She'd always seen herself in different bed in her fantasies. A king size one. With expensive covering. She'd always seen herself with a different name on her lips. And a different man.

Now it didn't matter. There was only one name she was capable of calling. One man she desired. One person she could think of. Only one.

And it wasn't Lex.

"Wait… wait…" Clark stopped again, his eyes closed, his forehead resting against hers.

"What is it?" she asked pretty annoyed. She wanted him so badly that she was trembling with need. Her panties soaking wet.

"I don't want to hurt you," he said and opened his eyes to look at her.

"Clark, it's inevitable during the first time. Can you please, get inside already?"

"I don't mean that… I mean… physically…"

"You're serious?" she looked at him strangely and then cupped his face. "You might be huge and strong, but you won't hurt me. I believe in you. Besides, are you honestly capable of just backing out now?"

"Well… no," he said, his face contorting as she placed her hand on his butt. A very firm butt. She really wanted to see it.

"Shit, I don't have a condom," he cursed.

It was the very first time he said a bad word in front of her. She wondered if she would be able to get a "fuck" out of him when…

"It's ok, I'm on pills," she said and caressed his cheek. "There are other reasons to take them besides having sex, you know?" she added when she saw the look in his eyes.

"I just thought… you went on it to do it with…" his voice trailed off.

She knew he meant Lex.

"You were wrong," she just said and pulled him into another kiss, so he would stop talking.

He took off her shirt, revealing the black lacy bra. Then he lowered his face to her breast and kissed the moulds just above the rim of the fabric.

"Why you're so slow?!" she complained. "I _need_ you!"

He didn't listen, he slowly took the bra off and now was staring at her squirming impatiently underneath him.

"So beautiful," he murmured, taking one of her nipples into his mouth, licking it and then sucking on it, his other hand stroking the other breast.

"Yes…" she moaned, arching her back, "Clark… yes…"

But still, after a moment it only made her more restless and more needy.

She decided to act. She reached to his flies and finally, she undid it, pulling his pants down and then sticking her hands into his boxers.

He groaned at the touch of her fingers over his shaft. It was too much. Now he _had _to get inside her, even with his superstamina.

She opened her mouth as she finally saw his cock. It was so huge, so thick.

She liked it, she really did. It was very impressive and it was better than too small. After all she couldn't expect anything less from Clark when looking at his whole posture, but… she was afraid it would hurt that much worse.

"Are you ok?" he asked her, looking at her worryingly. "You can still back out, you know."

When she shifted her eyes back to his, all the worries were gone. It was Clark. The dearest person to her. The person she knew best. Her friend. Now her lover. He would get out of his skin to make it as comfortable for her as it was possible. He would never hurt her deliberately. She trusted him. She wanted _him._ With him she could be sure.

And she couldn't be with another person that was his ex friend.

"Yes, I am. Get this off," she pulled at his pants that were still stuck in the middle.

He shifted a little, got it out of the way and now was on top of her, completely naked.

And so beautiful, she thought while looking at his body in awe.

"What?" he asked.

"You're… beautiful," she voiced her thoughts stupidly.

Clark actually laughed.

"No, you are," he said and traced a path with his lips down her stomach, finally undoing her own jeans and taking them off along with her panties. "_You _are," he repeated as he took into the sight of her.

Then his face was below her belly button, kissing and nuzzling her thighs.

She felt his breath against her core and she hissed.

Clark could smell her arousal and he wanted nothing more than to taste her.

He gently spread her legs and fingered her clit.

"Oh god," Jess moaned, arching her back again. "Clark!" she screamed as he slid one of his fingers inside her and brought his lips to her clit, sucking on it. "GOD! YES! YES!" The orgasm came completely unexpectedly, shooting through her, bringing her pleasure she couldn't even image was possible.

Clark put another finger in, trying to stretch her a little when the spasms ceased.

"How do you know…" she started, took a deep breath and continued, "what to do if you've never… done it before?"

"Well… I confess looking into few Playboys that Pete had stashed under his bed," Clark said, raising himself up. He wiped his lips with the sheet and then he kissed her again.

"Wow, it's a shock to know that even Clark Kent is just like everybody else," she teased him.

"No, I'm not," he assured her.

"Of course," she agreed, knowing it sounded silly now and she laughed.

Stopped when she felt his lips on her breast again and his fingers inside her.

"Is this alright?" he asked, lifting his face to look at her as he kept stroking her intimately.

"Yes, but I think it was enough of a foreplay for you. Your poor cock, just get it in," she told him.

"I never thought I would hear that word coming from your mouth," he admitted.

"Which one?"

"Cock."

"When you have sex with me, you do hear it. I can also say… fuck!" she exclaimed as she felt him teasing her entrance with his cock and then sliding the head of it inside.

They both laughed at the funny coincidence.

"So I see," Clark said and pushed a little further.

It was when she felt that it would actually hurt. He started stretching her. But she wasn't petite, she was sure she could take it. Just get it over with, so she could climax again.

"Alright?" Clark asked, his face contorted in torturous pleasure.

"Yes," she nodded, watching him.

He had a great stamina a moment ago, but now, when he was half way in, he couldn't hold it anymore, he had to take her, claim her, bury himself inside her. He felt like he would never like to be inside any other woman. He didn't want anyone else. All he wanted was _her_. He wasn't sure what was it that she actually felt for him. He just knew what he'd been feeling from some time, but it didn't matter now. Right now all that mattered was that he wanted to make her his, to mark her, take her, fuck her. He needed her. Needed this.

Sweat broke all over his body. It came as a surprise, because he never sweat. Apparently, Jessica was an exception.

He looked down when his cock was sliding inside of her, joining their bodies, and then he shifted his gaze back to her face, was amazed by what he saw.

She thought he was delicious. All over her, perspiring now, his body glistening in the setting sun coming through the window.

"Do it," she encouraged him. "Better right away than…" She hissed, her face contorted with pain as he finally went inside her. All the way.

Everything in him was screaming to move, to pull out and push back in and then repeat and repeat, harder and faster, but he forced himself not to. She was in pain. She was so dear to him and he was causing her pain.

"Alright?" he asked, not able to put together a whole sentence at the moment.

Her eyes were closed, she was breathing through her mouth and she was trying to relax her muscles, so the pain would go away.

And slowly, it begun to cease, was replaced by something else. Need again. She wanted him there, she wanted him to take her, to thrust into her, to make love to her.

She opened her eyes. One stray tear on her cheek.

"Clark," she just said his name.

"Jessica…" he answered and kissed her gently, slowly, trying to put all his feelings into that kiss.

Then her arms swung around his neck and her legs bent in her knees as they spread further, allowing him for deeper penetration.

Clark groaned and gave her one involuntary thrust.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"No, it's good. I want it. You can start going now," she told him, her lips grazing his as she was speaking. "The need is stronger than the pain."

He didn't argue. He pulled out of her and plunged back in.

"Yes…" she hissed both with pleasure and pain that was fortunately receding. "Yes… Clark… more…"

So he started thrusting into her slowly. It was an agony to him. She was so tight and so delicious around him. So hot. So wet. He just wanted to go faster.

"Yes… more… harder…" she encouraged.

He still didn't argue.

"Yes, Jess… Jess… you feel so good…" he murmured.

"You, too, go on! Yeah! Like that!"

He was plunging into her more forcefully now. Their bodies slapping together, wet sounds and smell of sex filled the air.

"Yes! Clark! Clark!" Jessica begun to scream as she could feel another climax approaching. "Oh, my… GOD! YES! CLARK!" she exclaimed when her channel started clamping over his cock, milking him. There was no pain anymore, just pleasure. Heaven. Though she knew she should expect some soreness later on.

"Jess… oh yes… oh… fuck, yeah… Jess… love!" He slammed into her one more time and came so powerfully it leveled him completely and he was soon lying in her arms.

Jessica wanted to smile with satisfaction. She did get a "fuck" out of him. Who would thought Clark Kent would be such an animal. But it was good. She liked him like that. She didn't think much of the word "love" she heard just before he came. He could call all different things in bed and didn't even realize it.

"Am I hurting you?!" He suddenly got out of her and laid right next to her on the bed.

"Hurt? No. Why?"

He was so relieved.

"I collapsed on you," he explained while looking at her from aside.

She shifted and propped her head on her hand.

"I was actually enjoying it," she complained at the lost of him.

"Really?"

"Really."

"I thought I was too heavy."

"You are heavy, but I didn't mind." She scooted over to him and put her head on his chest. His arms automatically swung around her.

"So… what is it that… we have?" she finally asked.

"Jess, I… I need to tell you something… Maybe this is not the right time or maybe it's better than any other… I… I've been having some feelings for you for some time now…" he finally confessed.

"You have?" she raised her head to look into his eyes.

"Yes, do you really think I would just take an advantage of you like that if I didn't?"

"I guess you wouldn't. Others would for sure."

"Can you… do you…" he was stammering.

"I don't know what I feel," she said, understanding what he wanted to know. "I'm sorry I can't tell you anything right now. I just don't know what it is that we have. I really enjoyed it, though. I loved it," she told him honestly. "But it happened so fast, so sudden… I'm confused. I never thought of you as something more before today and… before I knew you were alive… I was ready to go over to the mansion and…"

"You would go to Lex?" his voice suddenly bitter.

"Yes, I won't lie to you. I was ready to."

He didn't say anything back. He just lain there enjoying the closeness. Enjoying the moment that he could hold her in his arms.

Only his heart was screaming as he thought she might actually feel more towards Lex than she did towards him. He would not survive her being with Lex. He would sooner die than let her let Lex in. He couldn't even think that Lex might one day be in his place. Just lie with her, hold her, make love to her…

"Clark, are you ok?" Jessica got worried. His hold on her tightened, his face was angry now.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I'm fine."

"Clark, I'm here," she said. "I am here. With _you_." She kissed him.

Yes, she was. And he would do anything in his power to show her she could love _him,_ be happy with _him._

He would not let her go when he finally got her.


	2. Part 1 - Ignition - chap 2

**A/N ** I made two new videos to this story, links in my profile. It's called It's time and one more – promo to part 1 Ignition

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**Ignition**

**Chap 2**

Jessica was woken up by crowing roosters. She frowned, uttered a quiet moan of irritation and put the sheet over her head.

Only as she did so she felt cold air on her backside and that made her realize she was actually naked.

Soon, she remembered all that had happened and was confused again.

She obviously was still in Clark's bed and he must've been lying right next to her.

She was both scared and exhilarated in the same time. She didn't think what they'd done was a mistake. It'd felt too good. Somehow it'd felt… right.

"Good morning," she finally heard his voice and then, felt his presence behind her.

He scootched over to her and spooned her from behind, burying his face in her hair and kissing the spot his lips met.

Jessica felt a shiver running down her back. She felt hot again as if Clark had the ability to boil her blood.

For a moment there she was scared that this morning she wouldn't react to his touch like she'd done the previous day. But it was still there. Something had changed once and for all between them and she started to believe that it would stay that way.

She felt good just lying in his arms, letting him make her body warmer. She could feel the beating of his heart and it fastened again.

She reached to his arm that was draped around her and stroked it idly.

She felt another kiss, this time on her neck as Clark put her hair aside.

"Good morning," she finally answered him.

"How are you?" he asked.

She liked that he didn't push her to turn to him, to look at him. He was careful. He was patient.

"Actually, I'm… pretty great," she finally admitted and cocked her head to look at him.

She gasped when she saw his eyes. It was like they were worshipping her.

"Clark…" she started, but then she felt his lips on hers and she forgot what she wanted to tell him. His kisses felt so good, there was so much feelings and passion in them. She didn't know how she'd survived so long without them.

She shifted on her back and he hovered above her, his hands stroking her thigh.

And then she felt him getting hard.

"Clark," she said, pushing him away and closing her mouth, so she wouldn't feel his tongue there anymore. "Wait."

"What's wrong?" What she heard in his voice actually pained her. It was like she hurt him with that rejection.

"No, it's not that I don't want to…" she followed quickly and shifted uncomfortably. "I'm just… I'm sorry, I'm too sore," she confessed.

"Oh," he finally understood. "It's alright. I understand."

"Sorry I let things go so far," she said when he got off her and laid next to her, supporting himself on his elbow.

"I should be the one who's sorry," he disagreed.

"Are you actually apologizing for being too big? Most girls would love that about you," she said teasingly. She could see Lex's face in her mind if that was him. He would just smile cockily at her, proud of his size. Not that she thought he actually could beat Clark, but she knew he would react like that if he was in Clark's position.

"Not when it hurts them," Clark said, being completely serious.

"Clark," Jessica started again and placed her hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure the next time I will enjoy it even more, because there will be no pain. In that case the fact you're huge will be a good thing."

"Next time?" he asked, smiling at her and cocking his eyebrow.

Jessica bit her tongue, "I don't know why I said that. I don't know what is it that we have, but I'm willing to find out."

"Good, because me too."

Her inner channel did want him, she could feel it, but as it was pulsing she also felt that pain of being stretched a little too much. She knew her body would adjust eventually, but it was too early for another round. If she decided to have more than this one time with him. It was so easy to just give in to the desire and passion, but her true feelings… She still wasn't sure what they were. A person couldn't just fall in love over night, could they? She had to give it some time. Besides, there was also the case of Lana. She was dead, obviously, but all Jessica knew was that she was the love of Clark's life. So how could she compete with something like that?

"Jess, are you alright? You look like there's a serious argument in your head," Clark noticed. "Tell me, I can take it."

Why did he have to look at her like that? She wasn't used to such looks! All the guys she'd been crushing on in the past had never looked at her like that! Not even Lex when he'd come to her as his evil side.

"I'm just so confused," she said. But he already knew that. "I mean… I can feel all that sparks and passion between us and… when you touch me… it's like the world didn't exist anymore, but… how could it happen just overnight?"

"I understand. I feel the same way only… only I've been having feelings for you for some time now."

"You have?"

"Yes," he admitted.

She didn't know what to think of that and why it was that he'd been actually having them, so she decided to leave it for later. "Can we just… take it slow and see what happens?" she asked.

"Yeah," he sighed, "We've already agreed to that, haven't we?" He knew it wouldn't be easy. There was Lex and a little while ago Jessica had been so in love with him. She'd kept telling Clark that it'd been just a crush, but he'd seen the look on her face in Lex's presence. It'd been illuminating. Then, another thing to overcome was his secret. He was an alien, he came to Earth from Krypton. And as much as he believed Jessica could accept that, he was afraid now because of what she'd seen the day of the second meteor shower. She'd told him she'd seen the space ship and what had come out of it. And he'd told her she must've imagined it.

Maybe she would understand why he'd had to lie then. But would she accept him when she'd seen how evil his people had really been when they'd come to Earth? They'd caused the meteor shower. They'd caused Lana's death, Jessica's trauma. And Clark had come in the first shower, causing Jessica's and Lana's parents' death.

"Now you're looking like you're having an argument in your head," Jessica laughed.

She decided to get up and when she shifted the sheet dropped from Clark's body, revealing him to her.

"Oh…" she stopped on seeing the red stain on the sheet and then, her blood on Clark's cock. "I'm… sorry…" she finally said. She knew it was stupid. She knew it was completely natural, but somehow she felt embarrassed.

"For what?" Clark was surprised. "It's normal, isn't it? It's fine. I'll take the sheet off the bed before my parents…"

But as he spoke those words they heard a noise downstairs.

"Oh shit!" Clark cursed as his parents were obviously just walking up the stairs.

"Clark?!" they heard Martha Kent. "Are you up? Normally, you'd be doing your chores right now…"

"Mum, stop!" Clark yelled and got to the door just in the very moment it was about to open. It was very difficult for him not to use his powers to superspeed now.

"Clark, what's going on?" Martha asked, baffled. "What were you doing out there? I know you're a grown up man and I'm sorry I just keep barging in…"

"Mum, please, just go," Clark said, cutting in.

Jessica managed to put her clothes back on and now she was going over to the window, looking down.

"It's too high," Clark told her.

"Too high for what?" Martha asked from the other side of the door, her voice confused.

"Mum, please, just go!"

"Clark, who were you talking to?!"

Clark and Jessica knew there was no way she could sneak out unnoticed now.

Clark just shook his head, rested his forehead against the door and closed his eyes.

"Hi, Mrs. Kent!" Jessica finally spoke, not really having another choice.

"Oh my…" they heard and… Clark's mother just left, her steps echoing on the stairs as she was walking down.

"Clark, I'm sorry," Jessica said and suddenly stopped.

In this position she had a perfect view on his ass. And she wanted to see it after all.

And it was so perfect.

"Are you checking me out?" she heard and realized Clark was looking at her.

"Ehm… what if I am?" There was no point of denying that now. He saw clearly where her eyes had been just a moment before.

"It's so not fair when I'm the only one naked," he said.

"You're really in the mood for joking?" she asked, her eyebrows elevating.

"What else can I do? I won't cry. Just… wait a second. I initiated the whole thing, so you won't be going down to face my parents alone." He picked his pants from the floor. "I just go use the bathroom for a moment to clean up a little and you stay here, I'll be right back."

"Clark," she said when he was opening the door.

"Yeah?" He turned to her.

"Do you regret it now?"

"Never," he answered, the fire igniting in his eyes again.

Why did he have to look at her like that? She could just melt under the power of that gaze.

And she really didn't want to be so sore right now.

* * *

The rest of the hope they had that they would be able to get to the door and leave the house was gone the moment they set their feet on the last stair.

Clark's parents were sitting by the table in the kitchen, the door behind them.

"Mum, dad…" Clark started suddenly feeling completely silly. He was a grown up for a Christ's sake! He didn't have to explain himself. And he wouldn't. "Good morning," he just said.

"Yes, good morning," Jessica repeated after him and went to the door. "If you don't mind, I'll be going." She really wished she could get a kiss for goodbye from Clark, but didn't want to push it. The previous day at this time she'd never even thought she would end up in Clark's bed, so taking things slower was a good thing.

When the door finally closed behind her Clark walked over to the counter and fried himself some toasts while using his heat vision.

"Clark, will you talk to us eventually?" he heard his father's voice.

"Yes, I would like some explanation, young man," his mother agreed with her husband.

Clark sighed and turned to them.

"What kind of explanation? I'm nineteen years old and do not forget I might actually be older, because…"

"Do you think this is what we're worried about?" Jonathan asked, his voice raising menacingly.

"So what are you worried about, then?" Clark finally took the chair by the table. It looked like he would not get away that easily, so he had to suffer through it.

"We never really had a sex talk since we thought…" Jonathan started and stopped, embarrassed.

"Oh God, dad! I'm an adult!"

"Yes, but you're also an unique adult. You have abilities. You can't just…"

"I can control myself. I really can," Clark reassured his dad. "Do we really have to talk about it?"

"Yes, we do. What if you killed her?" Jonathan asked.

"Killed her?" Clark sputtered. "I didn't hurt her!" Well, that technically wasn't true, but Clark figured his parents thought of different kind of hurting anyway.

Jonathan closed his eyes. Martha had a rather ambiguous expression on her face.

"Clark, it's also about being responsible for you actions. What do you feel for that girl? Wasn't it at least meaningful? Or you both just felt lonely after so many loses and…" Martha started.

"I love her," Clark said, cutting in.

There was silence. His parents were completely shocked.

"What?!" Jonathan finally exclaimed. "You _love_ her?!"

"Yes. That's true. I _do _love her."

Martha and Jonathan looked at each other, then back at their son.

"I know what you're thinking," Clark admitted, "about a year ago I was sitting here telling you, mum, that I can't imagine myself my life with anyone else but Lana, but…" Clark stopped for a second, "I'd been into her for long and… how a teenager can really know what he wants? When I met Jess… it was like something changed, shifted my perspective. She literally took my breath away. I knew she was the one, but refused to admit it, because I was with Lana back then."

"Clark, this is exactly what I felt when I saw your mother for the first time," Jonathan said, his voice softening. He shot his wife a loving gaze. Clark also knew what Jonathan wanted to add, but stopped. He'd been with Lana's aunt, Nell, when he'd met Martha. "But in your case… nothing stands against you being with her except one thing. The fact that you love her is still not enough. You do realize what actually destroyed your relationship with Lana, don't you?"

"Yes, I didn't want to tell her my secret. But dad, maybe it was because deep down I knew she wasn't the one?"

"Oh, Clark," Martha sighed. "Are you absolutely sure? Once you tell Jessica there will be no coming back. You need to be absolutely ready for this."

"I don't want to lose her," Clark said, determination in his eyes, "I can't lose her. It hurts when I'm not around her and to just lose her to..." he stopped, didn't say that name out loud. He knew exactly where Jessica would go if he kept lying to her like he'd had to Lana. "I will tell her soon."

"Well, then I can only say I hope she will accept it and you will be very happy. You deserve it, my son," Martha said with affection and reached for Clark's hand across the table.

* * *

Jessica came back to her apartment in the Talon.

She felt so different, so… fresh. Her whole perspective changed so suddenly. She was thinking about Clark the whole time and smiling to herself like an idiot. Even the soreness was more bearable as she thought of how good he'd actually felt, how he'd cared for her. How passionate he'd been with her.

It was true that she hadn't expected this to happen, but right now she wouldn't have change anything. She was happy with what she got. She suspected it was even better than what she'd wanted. It would bring her to light, not darkness.

When she was climbing up the stairs in the Talon she scolded herself. She couldn't be in love, not yet. But that could be a very powerful crush, right? Maybe it would turn into love eventually? She wasn't naïve, Clark was a very mysterious and strange person from somebody afar, but she would make him tell her everything there was to know.

She opened the door to her apartment and walked inside. The never fading silly smile still on her face.

"Where were you?"

She jumped when she heard that voice.

"Jesus! Lex! Why are you in my apartment?!" she raised her voice, her heart beating fast. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"Well, technically it's my apartment," he said. He wasn't even sorry. He just walked over to her, smirking. "So, where were you?"

"Lex, I'm sorry, but this is not of your concern," she told him, frowning.

He eyed her from head to toes. She was sure that by the way she was fidgeting and shifting her weight form one leg to another he could tell exactly what she'd been doing and where she'd spent the night.

She suddenly caught herself on hating the expression on his face. She'd used to think he was handsome, used to love his poker face and those small smiles and smirks that in her opinion had always revealed some emotions only she could see.

Well, she'd been stupid. Now she saw clearly. When there was nothing clouding her judgment she finally saw Lex for who he really was. A billionaire that always got what he wanted.

And now he was angry, she could tell. And there was disdain on his face as well. Maybe even the beginning of rage.

Was he jealous of Clark?

"The fact that you owe the place doesn't give you the right to just barge in when I'm living here. I respect my privacy."

"So I respect mine," he just said and turned to the exit. "I actually wanted…" he faced her again, biting his lower lip, "I wondered if you wanted to have lunch with me?"

"You came here so early in the morning to ask me for lunch?" she repeated, not really following. What was it that brought him there? Maybe he just wanted a morning coffee and noticed she wasn't there? Or maybe he had her followed?

"Is that an interrogation?" he asked coldly.

"No. And sorry, but I don't think I can make it," she said, shifting from one leg to another again. Maybe a hot bath would help for that soreness?

"I see," he said and eyed her again. "Well, I'll be going then. You know where to find me."

He left, but she was still standing there, staring at the door.

She couldn't understand what was it that he really expected from her. Or maybe it was the deepest of ironies that when she was moving on from that silly crush she'd had on him, he started to feel something?

She shook her head at the strange dread that appeared inside of her. It was like she was afraid. She still remembered how dangerous he'd been when split into two.

She would have to talk to Clark about it.

And it would only complicate things more.

* * *

"You look reallyyy strange today," Chloe noticed when Clark came visit her in the Planet. "Are you alright?"

He sat right next to her and just stared into the distance, playing with his fingers.

"Clark? We're on Earth, not Krypton," Chloe said quietly. "What is it?"

"Chloe, somebody may hear!" he scolded her, finally shifting his eyes to hers.

"There's no one listening. Come on, tell me… of course, you know, part of me was offended when you never actually came to show me that you were alive. I had to guess that you were the one who took care of that rocket and that you had your powers back…"

"I slept with Jessica," Clark just said and that shut Chloe up.

She could just stare at him, mouth opened, eyes big.

And then Clark looked at her and…

"Oh God, Chloe…" he didn't know what to say. The look on her face. She was hurt, really hurt. "Chloe, I'm so sorry. I had no idea you still…"

"I... ehm…" she cleared her throat and shook her head, trying to hide her glassy eyes. "So… you two are an item now or something?" she asked.

"Chloe…"

"No, Clark, just stop," she told him. "I'm a big girl. I knew there would never be anything between us. You made that clear. Well… that was when you were pining after Lana, but... Oh God, I'm an awful person."

"Did you think that I could eventually… love you when Lana was…?"

"No, of course not!" she denied quickly. Too quickly.

"Chloe, I'm so sorry, I had no idea."

"It's alright. As I said, I am a big girl." She sent him a fake smile. "So, you're together now?"

"I don't want to talk about this when you're like this. I'll just... go." Clark stood up.

"No!" Chloe followed him and grabbed his sleeve. "I want to know it all. I mean… gosh, not the details. I don't… but… what happened between you two that…?"

Clark faced Chloe again, but instead of looking into her eyes he closed his.

Eventually he had to open them.

"I fell in love with her."

"Ooo… oh…" Chloe was doing her best not to look surprised or hurt. It didn't work very much for her. "Ok, I see… and does she…?"

"Reciprocate? Well, yeah. I think if I try really hard, she will fall for me, too."

"I'm happy for you," Chloe said even though Clark knew she wasn't.

"You are truly an amazing friend, Chloe. I really wish I could…"

"Don't mention it. I know you can't help it. You just don't see me that way."

"I'm sure there's someone special out there for you," Clark reassured her when putting his hands on her shoulder and then bringing her closer for a hug. "Now… I have to tell you something I couldn't tell my parents."

"What is it?" she asked, her voice serious.

"Jor-El was the one who brought me back."

"That much I figured."

"Only… he said…" Clark stopped for a moment and then took a deep breath. "He said that in order to bring me back he would have to take somebody else's life. Somebody I love."

Chloe gasped, "What?!"

"I tried to sacrificed my own, but he wouldn't let me! I was so stupid!"

"You're afraid that he'll kill… _her_?" Chloe made sure.

"It can be her, it can be my mother… even you!" Clark told her. "I'm so terrified, Chloe. I can't tell her that. Not yet. That will be too much for her and… I… I don't want to lose anybody."

"Clark, calm down. Just calm down. Take a deep breath," Chloe advised him. "It doesn't mean it will happen. Jor-El might take somebody away from him, but it might happen in ten years. Everybody dies sometimes, right?"

"I need to watch you all, I can't let anyone of you die," Clark just said stubbornly.


	3. Part 1 - Ignition - chap 3

**Ignition**

**Chap 3**

"Hi," Jessica met Clark in the barn just like he wanted her to.

She didn't really know what to expect or how to act as that was the first time she'd seen him since morning. The memorable morning she'd woken up by his side.

"Hi." He turned to her from his position by the window. "I'm glad you came." He smiled.

"Why wouldn't I?" She shrugged and came closer.

He was watching her as she was walking towards him, the sunlight coming through the window, illuminating her presence.

"Stop that," she told him, feeling rather awkward.

"Stop what?" he asked, smiling to her and reaching his hand to her so he could place it on her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.

"Stop looking at me like that. I am certain I'm not that beautiful," she told him.

"To me you are."

There they were again. That magnetic attraction between them, pulling them towards each other.

Clark couldn't help himself, he was kissing her before he realized what he was actually doing.

And she was kissing him back, putting her arms around his neck, brining him closer. She wanted to feel his strong body next to her.

"Wait…" She was the one to break the kiss again. "We need to talk," she said.

"You're right," he agreed reluctantly, resting his forehead against hers. "We do need to talk."

"For starters there's something you should know," she went on and walked over to the couch, sitting down. Remaining some distance was a good thing for them at this moment. "When I came back to my apartment this morning… Lex was there," she said and looked up at Clark who was still standing by the window, propping himself on the sill.

"Lex?" the moment was broken. His good mood was gone. He could feel something bad coming, something evil. He knew that whatever was happening between him and Jessica, it would be endangered because of the younger Luthor. "Why?"

"He…" she stopped, her face frowning, "he asked me if I wanted to have lunch with him."

"Did you?" Clark asked, his voice cold.

"Clark!" Jessica stood up as the realization hit her. "You think I still have feelings for him!"

"Well, what else were you expecting? After all, you told me once that you could take the challenge of loving him."

"Clark, that was ages ago!" she said, getting to him again and placing her hands on his shoulders, enjoying the muscles she could feel underneath. "Are you really that much afraid that I would just forget what happened between us and… run to Lex?"

"You wanted to. If I was really dead…"

"Only because I had no one. Literally _no one_. That was the only reason. I can assure you," she cupped Clark's face and forced him to look her in the eye, "whatever I thought I felt for Lex, it's all gone. He's… he's emanating with this dark energy and I don't like it very much. And you… you are…"

"What?" he said, his voice going huskier.

"Light. You're light," she finished and let go off his face, turning her back on him before he managed to kiss her again.

"What is it?" he asked. "You just told me you're over him and I couldn't be much happier. What is it that bothers you now?" she heard Clark's question and she sighed.

"It's Lana," she confessed, still hiding her face from him.

"Lana?" Clark asked, surprise in his voice. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't fool yourself, Clark. You really loved her." Jessica took the courage and faced him. "She was the love of your life and I… I don't want to be the second choice. A consolation prize, I…" she stopped when suddenly Clark grabbed her shoulders, pulling her a little closer to him and looking intensely into her eyes.

"Lana _wasn't _the love of my life," he told her loud and clear. "I never want you to think that."

"But… but you were…"

"When I saw you for the first time… I knew. I knew you were…" Clark stopped. Was it too early?

"What? I was what to you?" Jessica prompted, feeling her pulse racing, her heart beating so fast she was afraid it would explode.

"I didn't want to break Lana's heart and just hit on you. That is not who I am. That would destroy both your friendship with her and with me."

Jessica gasped, didn't know what to say.

"Oh," finally escaped her lips. "I see…" She was still overwhelmed.

Not only Clark didn't love Lana, but his feelings for her, for Jessica, were that strong? And he was so good… so noble…

She could just melt into a puddle right now. He was just too good to be true.

No, he wasn't, she reminded herself. There were still secrets.

"Still, there's something else. Something that bothers me more," she said, deciding to take advantage of his honesty. "I need you to tell me the truth about yourself. What was it that you never told her? Why you were acting that summer I came to Smallville like you were two different people? Running off to Metropolis? Not telling anyone where you were or what you were doing? And then you came back and you were the old you. The good one. And how did it happen that yesterday you basically raised from the death? Are you a meteor freak?"

"A meteor…" Clark started, repeating after her, "no," he denied and let go off her shoulders. "And I promise I will tell you."

"Well, I am listening," she said, her heart still racing, her arms folding on her chest.

That was it, that was the moment. He would tell her and she would have to accept whatever truth that was. She was scared that she wouldn't be able to. But again, how could someone so good keep a dreadful secret? It couldn't be bad.

And after all, she felt special. He decided to tell her. He'd never told anyone else. Not Lana. Not Alicia. Not Lex.

"I…" Clark started, opening his mouth.

"Hi, am I interrupting something?" they suddenly heard Chloe's voice coming from the stairs.

The moment was broken.

Jessica really wanted to tell her off for the intrusion, but she knew Chloe didn't mean it. And when she actually turned to look at the blonde she saw something that made her feel sorry for her. Could it be possible that Chloe still had a thing for Clark?

Jessica shifted her eyes back to Clark and what she saw in his eyes only proved her right.

Poor Chloe, she thought.

"I can go if…" Chloe started.

"No, please, stay," Clark told her quickly.

Jessica really couldn't hold it against him. She felt sorry for Chloe. After all, she knew how it was to pine after somebody that would never reciprocate those feelings.

"I just dropped by to show your dad the article I wrote about him," Chloe notified, coming closer to them. "He really likes it. I hope he wins tomorrow."

"Yes, me too," Clark agreed. "He can be a great senator."

In that very moment Jessica's phone rang.

She looked at the screen.

"Jess?" Clark asked, watching her face closely. He didn't like that expression. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she sighed and slid her finger towards the red button. "Well, it's Lex," she corrected, knowing that Clark would like to know. Besides, she didn't want to keep things from him if they were about to build some relationship. "I don't feel like talking to him."

"What does he want?" Chloe asked looking at both Jessica's and Clark's faces. "Is there something I don't know about?" she asked.

"No, it doesn't matter anymore," Jessica told her. "I'm fine. I'm where I'm supposed to be." She didn't even know how it happened, she didn't intend on displaying her affection towards Clark in front of Chloe, but her hand did wander to Clark's and their fingers entwined together.

"Ok… I can understand all that new feelings, but did you forget that the Talon needs to be decorated for tomorrow? We're having a party after all!"

"More like assembly, Chloe. We still don't know if my father…"

"Oh please, it's a sure thing that your father will triumph over Luthor!" Chloe raised her voice. "Do you honestly think the people in Smallville would vote for a billionaire? They want somebody honest, somebody who worked his way up with…"

"Ok, ok," Clark stopped Chloe while patting her back. "Let's go to the Talon."

* * *

"So, I guess it's way too late for a serious talk," Jessica said when she and Clark finally exited the Talon. "It's almost midnight."

"Yes, I guess it is late. At this time we end up in bed before we'll get to the talking part," he said, putting his hand to her face and caressing it.

"Aren't you cocky?" she teased him. "And I have to disappoint you. I came out of there with you to give you the hint that you aren't going with me to my apartment."

"Well, I wasn't trying."

"And I'm not going back with you to your house either."

"My parents are there tonight," Clark agreed. "I really didn't mean to make a move on you. Not before I'll tell you the truth." He was honest. He wouldn't think of sleeping with her again, no matter how much he wanted it. He knew he owed her the truth first. Then, if she still wanted to be with him, he wouldn't let her go for even one night.

"I really enjoyed today," she told him. "I enjoyed… us."

"Me, too. See you tomorrow?" he asked. "Around noon?"

"I'll come to the barn. We'll talk then," she agreed. Then she cupped his face and pulled him down for a kiss.

They lips joined. What meant to be just a simple kiss for goodnight turned out to be more heated.

"Ok, ok…" Jessica finally pulled away from Clark's mouth and put her hand to his chest to keep him at distance. "That's enough for now," she said and smiled. "I hope for more later on."

"If you still want me," Clark said.

"I will. I don't believe that whatever you have to tell me is bad. It can't be. Not with you." After having said that she turned away and disappeared inside the Talon.

Clark was looking after her for a long time, smiling like an idiot. Yet soon, that happiness was again replaced by fear. It couldn't be that bad, he thought. She was special, she would understand. He was sure of it.

Both Jessica and Clark hadn't noticed Lex watching them from inside of his car that was parked nearby. Tainted windows a perfect cover for him, but not the registration that said LLXXI.


	4. Part 2 - Incident - chap 1

**A/N **Warning: violence involving rape, but do not worry, because this chapter is kind of reinvented Reckoning, so you know what to expect (there'll be more original chapters later on, I promise)

* * *

**Part 2 Incident**

**Chapter 1**

Jessica had to sit down.

She just had to take a breather, adjust. Her world had to stop spinning.

She expected everything, but not _this._

"Jess? Jessica?" Clark's voice was coming to her like through the fog. She could barely hear him. "Jessica, please, say something, anything," he pleaded. He'd never before in his life been that much terrified. Fighting aliens, meteor infected, it all seemed easy as he hadn't had to put his heart on the line. Now all his future depended on her reaction. His heart could either be left broken after this day, or it could be more in love than ever. It was all up to her. He gave her the biggest power she could have over him. Just one word could hurt him.

"Please," he said again, coming closer to her, wanting to touch her, but instead he was towering over her as she was sitting. He didn't want her to push him away if she was afraid or disgusted. He wouldn't survive it. "Please, say anything, say you hate me, but don't torture me with that silence," he finally uttered.

She looked up at him.

"Hate you?" Disbelief in her eyes. "Clark, I could never hate you. I'm just… wow! I'm so overwhelmed! You're _an alien_? Seriously?" She stood up, facing him. Looked at his face closely, then put her hands to his cheek. He involuntarily closed his eyes in pleasure. "So I lost my virginity to an alien," she suddenly said and, to his astonishment, burst out laughing.

"What's so funny? Or maybe you're hysterical?" Clark asked, still scared.

"Clark, you're the same person to me that you'd been before you told me the truth," she told him, being serious. "I don't blame you for anything. It wasn't your fault. In fact… I think it's amazing. What you can do… do you realize how many people you can actually save? You have the power to change lives, change the world," she said with passion.

"And it doesn't scare you?" he had to make sure, his heart racing like he'd just circled the whole Earth twice.

"No, I know that you would never hurt me and… oh, so that what it was about!" she suddenly exclaimed and lost the hold she had on his face.

"What?" he needed to know what she was thinking. He wished he had the ability to hear people's thoughts now.

"You were afraid you would hurt me when we were having sex. That is why you were so hesitant! It's all falling in place now!" Her voice so enthusiastic. "It didn't make sense to me that you maybe didn't want me, that you wanted Lana, wanted to find a replacement for her and yet, I could see how your body reacted to me. I…" she didn't finish what she was about to say, because he suddenly swept her into his arms and kissed, trying to show her through it how much he felt towards her. Trying to pour all his feelings into that.

Her lips soon parted, making room for his tongue that was now deliciously plundering her mouth.

"Will you stop being so insecure?" he asked when he stopped kissing her.

"Sorry, I guess I believe you now." She smiled and looked into his eyes, their noses almost touching as they were so close. "So I also guess that we can…" she started, slowly sliding her hand down his chest until she would…

"Clark! Jessica! Are you ready? We need to go!" they heard Martha's voice coming from downstairs.

Clark literally growled what made Jessica laugh.

"What?" he asked her. "I'm dying to have you again!"

"And I'm dying to have you, too, but your dad may be elected the senator tonight. We need to be there for him," she told him. "Just think… it'll be that much better later. And that short skirt…" she pointed what she was wearing, "it's for you. You should see what's under it, too, later."

Clark licked his lips. "I can't wait," he said huskily. "And you know what? You're lucky I'm a man of steel. If I was a mere mortal I would just jump you right now."

"Well, I am a mere mortal and I can restrain myself," she said. She would never admit to him that she was actually dying, too.

"Yeah, I can see that," he said, clearly looking at her breast.

"What…? Shit!" she cursed. Her nipples were poking. "Damn it! And I thought I had you there for a moment!"

"You'd better put your blazer back on. I don't want my parents to see…"

"Got it."

"And… Jessica?" Clark asked.

"Yeah?"

"You are _not _a mere mortal in my eyes."

She just sent him a smile in response.

* * *

"And out new senator is…" Jessica heard while standing with Clark near his parents, holding his hand. She thought they were defined now as boyfriend and girlfriend, because what else they could call that relationship? "Jonathan Kent!"

Everybody started cheering. For once won an honest person that really deserved the title. Clark's father would never buy his voters even if he actually had the money for that.

"Congratulations, Mr. Kent!" Jessica rushed to tell him that as she was close and soon she would have no chance. Jonathan gave her a hug, then she felt Martha hugging her and then Clark, but it didn't last long as he got to his father.

Jessica suddenly felt like there wasn't enough air around her, so she stepped away, walked out of the crowd. She knew Clark would find her soon.

Her phone started ringing for like the tenth time today and she didn't even have to look at the screen to know who that was.

Of course, Lex. She sighed as she fished the cell from her bag.

"Hi," she picked it up. After all she might as well find out what he wanted and get it over with. He would not stop, so she had to talk to him.

"Jessica, I'm sorry I keep calling you, but…"

"Lex, what is it?" she asked, pretty concerned. He didn't sound like himself. He sounded desperate, lonely, like he was hurting. "Lex, are you alright?"

"Not sure," he told her. "I just… I need to see you."

"I don't think this is a good time, I…"

"I know, you have to be there for your precious boyfriend," Lex interrupted, his voice full of resentment. "What happened to us, Jessica? I thought we were friends. And then… you just walked away."

"Lex, it's not like that…"

"I know you were telling the truth," he cut in again.

"The truth about what?" she asked, frowning. Was he drunk? He didn't sound like his usual self. His voice was a little slurry.

"The space ship. I found it."

She gasped, then looked around in search for Clark, but she couldn't spot him in the crowd.

If Lex knew about the ship, if he was the one that had taken it, if he had it now… Clark could be in grave danger.

"I'll be right there," she told Lex and walked out of the building. Then she got into her car and drove away, towards the mansion.

"I'm here. Now, what do you know about that ship?" she asked Lex instead of a greeting as she stepped into his study.

She was right. He was drinking.

Now he was pouring himself some scotch.

"Want a drink?" he asked before he turned to her.

"No, thank you. You know very well I'm under aged," she informed him and came closer.

She could smell the alcohol on him and it wasn't very pleasant. She suddenly missed the sophisticated cold man who always smelt of expensive cologne and was wearing the best suits. Now Lex had a sweater on and his usual black slacks. His eyes bloodshot, dark circles under them.

She didn't feel anything romantic towards him anymore, but she did feel sorry for him.

"Lex, I think you had enough," she told him and put her hand to his, trying to take the glass away from him. When she finally succeeded, she put it back to the table where all his alcoholic beverages stood. "Now, I'm sorry you lost the election, but I don't think it's the best moment for us to talk. Put yourself together, Lex. It's not the end of the world. You can still be somebody if you try."

He suddenly laughed bitterly.

"I won't. All I can be is the man my father raised. Heartless, selfish, cruel."

"I don't believe that. You can shape your own destiny."

"Oh, really? I tried to be good. And where did that lead me? Nowhere. You're with the mighty Clark now. I only wonder… why? Is he being honest with you?" Lex looked at her closely. "Wait a minute, he is, isn't he? He told you his secret."

"Lex, you need to get better. I'll be back when you're sober," she told him and wanted to turned away from him, but he grabbed her arm, pulling her closer. "Lex, it hurts!" she complained as she faced him again.

"I don't care about the stupid elections or Clark. I care about you and I want you!" Lex brought his lips to hers and forced a kiss.

At first she stilled, completely shocked, but then she managed to place her hands on his chest and push him away. That wasn't the first time he pulled something like that off. Only this time it was really him. Not just his evil part.

She slapped him across the cheek.

"Don't you dare touching me!" she exclaimed.

He just smiled to her. "Tell me, then. Tell me what has Clark been hiding all this time? What is it? Come on, Jessica. Just tell me!"

"I'm not telling you anything!" She wanted to run to the door, but he grabbed her again, his hand like a steel vice on her arm. "You're hurting me!" she told him again. "Let go off me!"

Then she felt something cold put to her neck and she froze.

"You know very well that you should've been with me!" he told her, pressing the barrel of his gun into her.

"Then why you pushed me away?! Why do you want me now?! Is that some kind of a sick game?! Maybe you just find me attractive now, because I'm with Clark?!"

"I tried to be good before! I tried to spare you the darkness that has always been there, inside me. I knew you would never be fully happy with me even if you loved me! Well, I'm done being that nice." After having said that he forced another kiss on her.

Only now she couldn't push him away. She knew he'd killed people before. Maybe it was self defense, but still, he was capable of murder. He was drunk and hated Clark. He wanted revenge. Why not killing Clark's girlfriend? The evil side of Lex manifested itself now when his inhibitions were down.

Jessica didn't open her mouth for him, she just held on until he finally pulled his face away from her.

"I would never be able to love you," she told him spitefully.

"What does he have to offer you? Life on a small farm? Debts? Poverty?" Lex asked, his left hand still holding the gun, his right cupping one of Jess's breast.

"Please, stop…" she said, feeling violated, disgusted by him.

"Oh, I won't, my dear. I will get what I want even if I have to take it myself!" He slid his hand under her blouse and then under her bra.

"Please…" she started crying.

"Oh, you can beg, that actually turns me on."

"You're sick!"

"Oh, I'm better than ever!"

She started believing that whatever had happened to him in that lab that had resulted in splitting him didn't just go away. He'd been getting darker from that exact day. So what that he was back together now? Whatever had affected him, it'd freed the evil in him. She couldn't see anything good in him anymore. The man she'd had a crush on was long gone.

"He has something, doesn't he?" Lex continued while still massaging her breast. "What is it that attracts all the right women to him?"

"He has a good heart," Jessica answered. "You don't. That is why every woman in your life either left you or used you."

"Shut up!" Lex suddenly told her and squeezed her breast. She didn't move, was too scared that he would accidentally fire the gun.

Of course she knew that she would never be just a farmer's wife with Clark. Not when she finally knew who and what he was. How much he could accomplish.

"Lex, please, what are you doing?!" Jessica screamed desperately as he begun undoing his pants. "Please, don't… don't… I'm begging you!"

But then she saw his hard cock. And he wasn't small. He was pretty big.

And he reached under her skirt and ripped the panties off her.

"Please! STOP!" she wept.

"Stop screaming or I'll shoot you. And we wouldn't like that pretty face destroyed by a bullet, would we?" After having said that he spread her legs, grabbed his cock and shoved it inside in one swift motion.

Jessica howled. It hurt. She was scared. She wasn't turned on. Not by him. Not anymore.

"Don't… tell… me… you… haven't… thought… about… it… before…" Lex kept saying with every thrust he was giving her.

She could just shake and cry and wish it was over already.

"I know you had a little crush on me," he murmured and groaned deeply as he gained more friction. "Oh yes, baby, finally, fuck, yes!"

"Had would be the key world, wouldn't it?" she asked him, gathering all her courage and restraint she had left. Trying to face him with her head high. Trying to go through this with pride. He would take her body, but he would never take her heart. He'd lost it forever a long time ago.

Only her trying to be brave was just a façade. She knew already that she was broken, maybe broken beyond repair. Lex was destroying her right now. Destroying her happiness.

He speeded up, fucking her harder.

She kept crying.

"Please stop…" she lowered herself to pleading again although she knew it was way too late for him to stop. The damage had been already done.

She was disgusted by him. She remembered how in the past she'd used to fantasize about him, his body, about having sex with him. In this very moment she saw how wrong she'd been, how silly, how immature.

And now her life was over. She shouldn't have come to the mansion that day. Only all she wanted was to protect Clark. The man she loved, she was sure of it now. But would she be able to let him in again while every single time with him would be forever tainted by this very moment of Lex violating her?

Finally, Lex groaned deeply and released himself inside her, his body jerking in spasms of pleasure. His eyes closed.

That was her chance. She didn't know what he would do to her later, whether he would let her go, kill her or use her again and again. She couldn't count on Clark finding her immediately, although she knew he would eventually.

Right now Lex was out of control.

She snatched the gun from him and hit him with the bottle of scotch. It smashed to pieces on his bald head and Lex howled in pain.

Then she pushed him away and ran to the door…

* * *

Clark was looking for Jessica.

"Chloe, have you seen Jess?" he asked his friend.

"No, sorry."

"She wouldn't of just left without me…" he said, his voice troubled.

"Maybe she's in the bathroom? I'll go check…" Chloe offered, but in the same time Clark's cell rang.

"Oh, it's ok, it's her… Jess?" he picked it up.

All he heard was her sobbing frantically into the phone. "Oh God, Jessica, what happened?! Why are you crying?! Where are you?!" he asked one question after the other, terrified. He could feel in his guts that something terrible had happened. The dread was so real. "Are you alright?!" If Jor-El tried to take her away from him…

"Clark…" she finally uttered. "I… I'm so sorry…"

"For what?!" he exclaimed.

"Lex called… he has the ship… I… I went to him…"

"What's he done to you?!" Clark cried out. He could feel it in his bones, something so horrible that they would never be the same. His life was just crumbling to pieces all around him and he couldn't help it. It'd been already done.

"He… he… forced himself on me."

Clark froze, unable to move, unable to speak. Unable to do anything but holding the cell phone by his ear.

"Clark?" he could hear Chloe's worried voice. "Clark, what happened? Is she alright?"

"Did he…" Clark finally uttered, trying to keep his rage at bay, "violate you?" he finally finished the question, praying that it wasn't what she meant. That she would tell him that Lex had forced himself on her, but she'd managed to escape just in time.

He only heard more sobbing in response.

He'd never before in his life felt such a rage.

"Oh God, he's after me!" Jessica screamed.

"Where are you?! I'll kill him!" Clark roared, people looking at him, but he didn't care.

He could just feel Chloe standing next to him, stunned with what she'd just figured from that speech. "Oh my…" she said and stopped.

"Route 44," Jessica answered.

Clark managed to get out of the Talon before he sped up there.

* * *

She was terrified. The nightmare wasn't over yet.

She could barely see where she was going because she kept crying.

That night she should be in bed with Clark. She shouldn't have been raped and then chased on the street.

She…

There was that blinding light and a crash.

Her car started flipping… and she found herself in the darkness.

"Jessica!" Lex jumped out of his car and stopped, seeing that there was nothing he could do. The damage had been done. She was dead…

Then he felt a rush of air and saw… Clark standing right there, next to him. How did he get there so fast?

His eyes widely opened, tears gathering there as he took in the picture of what had just happened.

He made a few steps forward, his hands trembling as he crouched by the body.

She wasn't breathing.

"Clark!" he suddenly heard his father's voice. "Clark! It's over. You couldn't have done anything!"

"NO!" Clark roared. Both unbearable grief and rage raising inside of him. "NO! SHE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO DIE! SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO LIVE! YOU SHOULD'VE DIED!" he turned to Lex, grabbed the front of his shirt and lift him up. "YOU KILLED HER! YOU RAPED HER! YOU BASTARD!" Lex was choking.

"Clark, let go off him!" Clark heard Jonathan's voice. "You're not a killer."

"But he's done it! He's really done it!" Clark cried out. He couldn't stand the pain in his chest. His heart was broken, shattered into million pieces.

She saw her happy face in his mind. He saw how much she'd wanted him when they'd made love for the first time. He saw how her face had looked like when she'd accepted him being an alien so easily.

And then he imagined how she must've been used by his ex friend, her ex crush.

Jor-El… that was all his fault!

Clark took Jessica's body and was gone in a second.

"Clark!" his father called after him, but he didn't listen.

He had to get to the fortress.

* * *

**A/N **there's new promo in my profile to Incident.


	5. Part 2 - Incident - chap 2

**Incident**

**Chapter 2**

He did it! He saved her! He saved her from _everything _that had happened that day. Including him telling her the truth.

He suddenly wondered if he should tell, but would not telling her do any good to either of them? Clark knew what would've happened if he'd died that day when he'd been shot – she would've gone to see Lex. She would've ended up with Lex. And now Clark was sure that if he didn't tell her, she would go to Lex, too.

He wanted to scream. To hit something.

Why did Lex always have to come between them?! Why couldn't he just leave them alone? Well, he would've if only Jess hadn't been crushing on him before.

Clark couldn't hold it against her, couldn't be mad at her. People couldn't control their feelings. He, out of them all, should know it.

The good thing was that Jessica had actually opened her eyes before something bad had happened.

He grabbed his phone and chose her number.

"Hi, Clark," he heard her cheerful voice.

She was ok. She was unscathed. She was happy that he called!

"Jess! I'm so glad to hear your voice! Are you alright?" he asked quickly, not even caring at the moment that that would only raise her suspicions.

"Of course I am! I'm looking forward to us seeing each other today. You owe me some truth unraveling," she chuckled.

"Has Lex been calling you?" Clark followed with another question.

"Lex? How did you know…? I mean, he called once, but it's not like I want to talk to him, so…"

"Jess, I'll be soon as fast as I can."

"I thought we were about to meet at your place?" confusion in her voice.

"Well, I decided that it would be better if I came over. Why would you waste your trip with going to the farm and then back to the Talon for my father's celebration?"

"Oh, ok… and I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but don't you think it's a little too early for calling it a celebration? Ok, I'm hanging up. I just woke up and yeah, I know it's like half a day to you already, but I like to sleep in, especially after such busy night we had with all the decorations. I need to take a shower now, see you later."

"I'll be there in half an hour," Clark told her, smiling to himself. Just talking to her, knowing that he'd really done it, that Jor-El had sent him back in time, made him feel better. She was alright, she didn't pick up Lex's call and, for all he knew, she would do that at the event, no sooner.

Now he had to talk to Chloe and then get to Jess to make sure she wouldn't get near Lex that day.

"Chloe!" Clark appeared in the Planet as fast as he could.

"Oh, hello there… why do look so worried?" she frowned on seeing his face. "Did something happen?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "Chloe, I've already lived through this day!"

"What are you ta…"

"Come!" He pulled her into a supply closet and there, when he was sure no one could hear them, he told her.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight… you tell Jessica about your powers when she appears in your loft, she accepts you, then your parents call you and when your father becomes the senator you lose sight of Jessica. Then you find out she went to Lex to protect you, because he has the space ship."

"Chloe, there's no ti…"

"Let me just wrap my mind around this!" she hushed him while raising her hand. "Lex can't have her, because she's already in love with you…"

"She hasn't exactly told me that she…"

"Oh, please, Clark! Wake up! Her actions speak more than words!... So Lex takes what he wants and…" Chloe stopped, unable to say anything more out loud. "This is barbarian, this is horrible…"

"And you know what's the most horrible thing?" Clark asked. "Jess and Lex had no idea what happened, because I came back in time. There's no way he can pay!"

"But she's alright!" Chloe said. "And that is all that matters. Clark, I know what happened to you was just… awful and even the noblest person in the world would like some revenge after that, but… you can't have it, because technically… nothing happened. The only thing you can do if keep her away from Lex."

"I need you to keep watching over your shoulder today," Clark said seriously, "Jor-El migh've sent me back, but he did warm me of the consequences. Someone else is going to die, but I will not let that happen. If you sense that you are in any danger… just call me and I'll be right there. Understood?"

"Clark, of course, don't worry so much. We'll all be fine," she tried to calm him down and put her hand on his shoulder. "Believe me."

"I want to, but… with my father…" He closed his eyes. "What should I tell her now?"

"You mean Jess?"

"Yes. She's expecting the truth."

"Well, I guess if you keep her away from Lex, you can tell her."

"I considered not doing it, but… I realized that if I keep lying to her I will lose her and, what is worse, I will lose her to Lex. I don't want to be selfish with her, I don't want to keep her by my side for all cost, make her love me for all cost, but… I can't not tell her, because then… this will happen all over again. If Lex doesn't…" he stopped, that word couldn't come through his throat, "then I'm sure he'll hurt her in some different way. He always does. Especially now when he's somehow… so changed."

"Clark, calm down, take a breather," Chloe now put both her hands to his shoulders, "look at me. I will be alright. If you tell her the truth, she will understand and she will not get hurt."

"But… you expect me to tell her that I'm an alien, that I caused the meteor shower in which her parents died, that I have superpowers and… then add to that that I just turned back time, because she got hurt and killed? By Lex?"

"Well," Chloe looked at him and shrugged, "she did accept you the first time, right? So why…"

"I have to take it slow," Clark decided. "Maybe not today. Today I need to focus. The time when she died last night might be the exact time some other death might occur."

"Well, maybe Lex will drink himself to death and you'll have both problems off your head," Chloe said, trying to joke. "What? I know you used to care about him…"

"Used to," Clark repeated. "But even if…"

"I know, Clark. You are not that kind of a person who would just let him die, even if he hurt you beyond belief. Now… go, she's waiting for you. You have to keep her away from Lex. Don't worry about the rest, I'll keep an eye on your parents. I promise."

"And keep an eye on you, too," Clark told her and kissed her forehead. Then he speeded out.

* * *

Clark walked inside Jessica's apartment without knocking. Before he'd made sure she wasn't in the room.

He looked around and there it was. Her cell phone, lying on a table, vibrating as Lex was calling again.

He quickly swept it away and hid in his pocket.

Just as he did so, he heard her voice coming from the bathroom door.

"Clark, you're fast," she said. She was tying up her bathrobe. Her hair was wet from the shower.

And he could just stand there, watching her. Alive. Well. She was unharmed. She was still his.

"Jessica!" he called her name and got to her, doing his best not to rush too much, not to show off how fast he could really be. "You're alright!" he said while cupping her face.

She was just standing there, looking at him with strange expression in her eyes.

Of course she did. She didn't remember anything and that was a real blessing. He wouldn't want her to remember. He'd erased everything. It hadn't even happened. Lex had never been there, in her.

Clark couldn't tell her the truth now. He would really have to do this some other time. Now he was too shaky, too needy for her.

He swept her into his arms, hugging so tightly she could barely breath.

"Clark…" she gasped on feeling his strong body so close to hers. They couldn't be closer in this position.

He buried his face in her wet hair, breathing the flowery scent of her shampoo and doing his best that she wouldn't notice how shaky he was, that he actually had tears in his eyes.

He could just hold her. Never let her go. He would never stop loving and protecting her.

"Clark?" he heard her voice muffled by his shirt her face was pressed to. "Clark, what is it?"

He managed to put himself together and finally, he answered, "I've just had a very bad dream," that was the closest to the truth he could get right now. He wasn't in any condition of telling her the whole thing. After all, he'd already changed everything, so it could've been, as well, a nightmare he'd woke up from.

He raised his hands to her head and gently pulled her away, so he could look into her eyes from near and then, he leaned towards her and kissed her lips gently.

He wanted to feel here there, feel that she was real, that she was really ok and his. He wanted to cherish her to the rest of his life, to protect her from all evil. Only he knew it would never be easy and they would certainly be bumps in the road. He couldn't let her go to protect her, because by keeping her and loving her he was actually protecting her from the greatest threat – Lex. In the same time he knew she would always be vulnerable because she was with him. And he would always be vulnerable if he kept helping people. He couldn't stop, he had to make a good use of his powers.

Right now all of that didn't matter. He would figure out a way out of this later. Right now he would just love her. Show her how important she was to him.

Her arms flung around his neck, bringing him closer as he was kissing her.

When her lips parted in delight and their tongues met, he felt her grazing against his growing erection and moaning softly at what she found there.

His hands wandered down to undo her sash and, as the robe was opened, her body was revealed to him.

He inhaled the air loudly, hardening all the way, feeling too tight in the confine of his pants. It was almost painful.

She seemed to take the hint, because as his lips wandered to her neck and his hands caressed her breast, nipples already peaked, her hands started working on his belt, then his fly and finally, while getting into his boxers, she released his cock, stroking it gently.

He really wanted her to know that she didn't have to be careful, that he could take more pressure than she would dream of, but he would leave that for later.

He gently lifted her up and carried her to her bedroom. She wrapped her legs around his waist, his hard cock trapped between his belly and her core. They both groaning at the sensations.

Clark needed to get over last night, get over the image of her body covered in blood, lying on the street, with no life in it. He had to forget about what she'd told him over the phone. About what Lex had done to her. He kept reminding himself that it didn't happen.

And he finally believed it when they were in a bed, his body moving above hers, her eyes so alive with so much fire inside, his hands touching her, lips caressing. He was making sure she would be ready for him. He had his suspicions that she was still a little sore, but he could go slow. He needed it that way anyway.

"Clark," he heard her moaning his name. "Clark…" Then he felt her hands on his head, pulling him up from her breast to her face. Their eyes met again. "I'm ready. I need you now," she told him.

There was so much trust and feeling in her eyes that it made him forget about the whole world. About the horrible day he'd had to get through. Right now they were all safe, they were loving each other and that was enough.

He felt between her legs, sliding his finger inside her. Her back arching, breath erratic, eyes wild.

He grabbed his cock and positioned himself, then slid inside smoothly, slowly, watching as he was slowly disappearing inside her.

When he looked at her face again he saw pleasure on it, but she was also smiling cockily at him. She must've seen that possessive gaze when he was watching himself penetrating her, their bodies joining.

Only this time it wasn't supposed to be about possession. It was supposed to be about love.

So his lips found hers again and he kissed her.

He folded his arms on each side of her, the palms of his hands cupping her face so he could keep looking into her eyes. Then he begun to move, slowly making love to her.

He never looked away from her pupils, watching as they were getting bigger, an indication that she was attracted to him.

She was lying underneath him, feeling him moving inside, so slow it was almost torturous, but in the same time so wonderful. His eyes never leaving hers. She was overwhelmed of his love for her. She felt… too much. She didn't know where that strong affection from his side came from, that desperation. And it was way too much for her to handle. It was like he gave her his heart and now she had the power over him. She could hurt him like no one else. But she couldn't give him hers, not yet, not until she would know everything there was to know about Clark Kent.

She really thought that her heart would just burst. His love, his eyes, his caresses were so intense. Instead, her vagina burst, sending her up, higher and higher… until she finally reached her orgasm.

Clark, as if he felt it, kissed her just in that time.

His tongue on her lips as she couldn't even control them, because she was moaning in ecstasy was too much again, and she couldn't take it. She couldn't take so much love when she couldn't give it back in return.

Then he speeded up a little, couldn't hold the slow rhythm anymore, had to gain more friction… and he exploded. Released his seed into her.

His body gently covered hers, his face buried in her hair again. She could feel his breath on her neck. He was muttering something, but she couldn't quite make anything out of it. And words like "alive", "ok" and "safe" didn't make any sense to her. It had to be something else.

Then he groaned as he finally got off of her, his softened cock sliding out. He could get it up in a second if he wanted to, but he decided not to think of it now. He still wasn't honest with her and he remembered how she'd told him they could go to bed after he would tell her.

Not now. So not now, he thought as he laid on his back and automatically swept her in, reaching his arm out, so she would fit into the crook of it, her head resting on his chest.

"You still have to tell me, you know," she finally said as she idly plying with his nipples that were still erected.

"I know," he sighed, "I will."

Was he able to do the noble thing here? Was he able to just let her go after everything he'd discovered with her? He was sure he couldn't feel better than in this very moment, yet, if he told her there was so much more to come. She didn't know his body would stand anything. She didn't know if she bite him it wouldn't even leave a mark. She didn't know she could squeezed his cock hard and that would only bring him to pleasure quicker, not hurt him. And she didn't know he had the capacity of going on almost indefinitely. Not that he tested it, but he was sure he could at least a few more times than a mere mortal.

But all those thoughts, all that dread of him letting her go, it was all futile. He couldn't. That made him both happy and scared for her. For now Lex was the biggest threat, so he had to shield her from it.

"So?" she spoke again.

"So, what?" Clark asked, looking down at her face, her head still lying on his chest, his hand in her hair.

"Will you tell me already?"

And in that moment, when his lips opened, they heard a voice, "Clark? Jessica?!" That was Chloe. "Don't want to interrupt, but Clark, your parents are looking for you!"

"I promise I will. Later," Clark told Jessica, taking advantage of the situation. That wasn't the perfect day for the truth anyway.

He didn't notice the shadow on her face as he was putting his pants back on. Her phone was still there. He would give it back to her the next day.

* * *

**A/N **So, do you think it was a good idea to not let Jessica go? Should Clark tell her right away?


	6. Part 2 - Incident - chap 3

**A/N **Reply to review: Thank you,** Guest**, for leaving me feedback.

**Incident**

**Chap 3**

Clark was standing in his loft, staring through the window, into the sky.

He was completely numb.

He'd been so exhilarated that he'd succeeded with turning back time, with undoing what had been done to the love of his life and… he received a strike from completely different side. Jor-El had hit his family. His own father… his dad…

Clark closed his eyes, squeezing the eyelids hard, so he would not cry again.

His dad, the person that had raised him, that was and would always be the greatest role model for him, was dead now.

Heart attack.

Somehow Clark started wondering if Jonathan hadn't been doomed from the very day he'd received superpowers and gone after him to Metropolis. It hadn't just happened the day before. It'd started years ago.

Maybe that was just another of Jor-El's sick tests. Maybe Clark had always meant to go back in time. Maybe he'd been always meant to realize that he couldn't go on living without Jessica. After what Lex had done… he'd known deep down inside that he would never let her go, that he would try to shape his life into whatever would help him to protect her and be with her in the same time.

And then his father had died.

The worst was living with the knowledge that he couldn't even hold it against Jor-El, it was just a machine, a computer projection of his birth father, not the real person. It'd done what it'd had to do to protect and save him, Clark.

It was only Clark's fault. He was the one who'd taken off to Metropolis while being on red K.

"Clark?" he heard her quiet, sad voice behind him.

He didn't turn to face her even when that was all he wanted to do. He was so weak. So guilty. If he saw her face right now he would start to cry again.

"Clark?" She came closer and stood right behind him. Then he felt her hand on his back. "Clark, please… let me…" she stopped.

He couldn't blame her. He understood that she wanted to help him, but she knew there was nothing she could do. Nothing beside being there for him.

So she put her arms around him, snuggled into his broad, strong back.

At the feeling of her body something awoke inside of him.

In the past two days - or maybe a day as it was to everyone else - he'd seen two people he loved dying. Now one of them was there. The woman that he chose to spend his life with. And she didn't even know it yet.

He turned around so fast it surprised her. He took her into his arms, embracing tightly, then kissed her, starting hard right away, sliding his tongue in, plundering her mouth, battling with her own tongue.

She moaned against him and his strong hand brought her hips to his pelvis to show her how hard he already was for her.

"Clark… are you sur…" she began, but was stopped as he closed her lips with his again.

Then she felt him turning her around, so now she was facing the window. He was behind her. She felt him undoing her jeans and then taking them off.

She didn't stop him. She knew he needed that outlet, that sexual consolation. The only way to get rid of the grief, even for few precious minutes, was to fuck her now.

And she liked it. She really wanted it.

When Clark brought his hands to her bare backside with the intention to rub her clit, he stopped.

"What is it?" he heard her asking. "Why did you stop?"

"Because I'm not sure that is what you want," he said honestly. He had a brief moment of panic there. The last thing he wanted to do was to use her like… even if that didn't happen.

"Of course I do, you silly! I think I'm better at adjusting to you now, so… please, just go…"

She was pleading. That meant he was himself, he was Clark. He wasn't a man that was using women. He didn't hurt her. She wanted that.

He didn't argue anymore.

She propped herself on the window sill, presenting him her butt bare and delicious.

He spread her buttocks and found her channel, then slid himself home.

"Oh, yeah!" he rasped, earning himself a moan from her.

He pulled away immediately and then plunged in again.

"Ok?" he asked.

"Yes! God, yes! Go on!"

That encouraged him even more. He forgot. He was Clark. And she was Jessica. And they were the only people existing in this world. Only them mattered. He wanted to feel that as long as he could.

He was fucking her hard from the back, his hands on each side of her hips, keeping them in place, so he could push in more effectively.

And then he slightly changed the angel and was surprised by her shouting his name and coming.

Only he wasn't even near done.

He waited until the spasms around him subsided and then he got off of her.

"What are you doing?" she squealed in surprise. "You didn't come. Clark, I…" She was shut up as he swirled her around, this time her butt against the sill, and he entered her again.

Her arms swung around his neck as their bodies joined. His arms were around her as well and he kept pushing, kept fucking her. Never wanted to stop.

"Yes, Clark… my… god… fuck yeah…" she was panting. "I think… I think…" She reached her second orgasm before she finished that sentence, but it was obvious what she was going to tell. "Now… ah… Clark… now you…"

Only he just lifted her up, her legs going around his waist as he was still inside her and he carried her over to the couch, laid her down as he started pumping into her.

He was so long gone. He didn't even remember his name. All that mattered were their bodies joined, copulating. All that mattered was that she wanted him, wanted what he was giving her, was so responsive and… she reached her third climax.

At that knowledge he woke up, looked into her eyes more clearly. Knew that it wouldn't be right to make her come again and again… she still didn't know what he was.

So he let go. His climax so intense, so powerfully that it leveled him completely, his vision going white. His seed much richer than before.

But as soon as the pleasure was over, the grief hit him again. This time that was what leveled him.

He was still inside Jessica, his face buried in her red hair, her arms and legs around him.

His shoulders suddenly shook as he wept.

She didn't know what to do. She's never had sex before him, not to mention she'd never experienced a man crying in such position. She knew it wasn't because of the sex itself, Clark wasn't that soft. She knew the real reason. Only now as they'd already fucked she had no idea what else to do to make him feel better. She, herself, had forgotten about that tragedy, because of what she'd just lived through. That was the most amazing thing she's ever experienced. That sex… she had no words to describe it. She felt happy as she'd reached the third orgasm, but then guilty as she remembered what had happened the previous night.

She tightened her hold on him, squeezing tightening her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, stroking his dark locks. "It'll be alright. I'm here for you and I'm not going anywhere. You can be sure of that," she told him.

She felt rather uncomfortable now, she was too full. He was still inside and his sperm was trapped in there, too. But she would not let go first. She could only shift a little and that cause his seed to find its way. It wasn't pleasant as it was flowing out of her, but she'd chosen the birth control and she wouldn't be the one to clean the couch after all.

"I will keep you safe, I promise," Clark suddenly whispered into her ear. "I won't let anything happen to you. I love you," he confessed.

And that was the most intimate moment she'd ever experienced in her life. He'd bared his feelings along with his pain to her. She really appreciated that. Somehow he chose her.

She wanted nothing more to take the pain away from him, even if she would have to be the one suffer. Only it didn't work that way. She wanted more than anything to tell him right now that she loved him back, but she couldn't. She knew it would make him feel better, but she couldn't do that. She also knew he understood. She would be able to tell him she loved him when he would tell her the truth about himself. Only then.

* * *

Jessica wouldn't push now. She knew it was hard for Clark with the funeral and losing his father. She could only be there for him. Hold his hand. Be a support to him.

There was no way she would make him open up even more to her with telling her the truth. She was patient. She would give him some time.

She felt somebody looking at her, so she turned her head in that direction. She saw Lex standing in the distance, propped against a tree. She suddenly wondered if he wasn't cold without any hat on his bald head, but that wasn't her concern anyway. She still remembered how she'd found her phone on the floor in her bedroom the day after Jonathan Kent's death. She'd figured it must've fallen from a table somehow when she and Clark had been busy with themselves. There had been over twenty missed calls from Lex. She'd never called him back to ask what he'd wanted. She'd been, and still was, too busy with helping her boyfriend get over his father's death.

Could she really call Clark her boyfriend when there was still so much unspoken between them? She hoped so. She _felt _so.

She turned back to Clark as he squeezed her hand. It didn't hurt, but it gave her the hint that he was angry. At who? About what? When she looked at his face she saw the obvious hatred towards Lex. Just another thing to find out, she sighed.

* * *

When the wake was over and all the people left on the farm were Clark, his mother and Chloe, he could finally talk to them.

He sent Jessica home, promised her he'd be fine and that they would meet and talk honestly soon.

After few minutes the worst was behind him. He told them. What more important, he told his mother that her husband's death was his fault, Clark's.

"I'm so sorry… I… I didn't mean to…"

"Clark," Martha spoke in soothing voice. "Whatever you may think… it is _not _your fault."

"But he got the powers and went to find me in Metropolis because _I _left you! It _is_ my fault! Mine and only mine!"

"No," Martha shook her head, determined. "It's not. It was his choice. He knew about the consequences and he accepted them, he took the risk. You of all people should know how stubborn your father was. He had a strong heart, but he was using it more than anyone else I know, well, maybe besides you, Clark, but we both know what you're made of."

"But mum…"

"No, stop it! And if you have to blame anyone else, blame your biological father. He was the one who gave you ultimatum to come back to him before sunset the day that aliens attacked us. You couldn't have just dropped everything and ran to him. Your father understood it. I'm sure, as much as it hurts, that he would've made the very same decision if he'd known the consequences."

Clark was silent for a few minutes.

"Clark, I know it's still too early, but… you do see the look in Jess's eyes, don't you?" Chloe asked.

"Yes," he sighed heavily, "she wants to know the truth. She might have feelings for me, even love me, but if I don't tell her… I can feel her slipping away. And I can't let that happen."

"Clark, it was an accident," Martha comforted him. "The first time… Lex didn't mean to hurt her. He was chasing her down the street, but she was the one who…"

"Mrs. Kent, with all due respect, but what kind of a bullshit is this?" Chloe got annoyed.

Martha shot her a bewildered look.

"I didn't tell her," Clark turned to Chloe. "I meant to, but I just haven't got there yet."

"What are you two talking about? What exactly haven't you told me?"

"Mum, it's about Jessica… she… Lex…" Clark stopped, couldn't say this at loud, just couldn't. It didn't happen anyway.

Chloe, guessing what was going on in his head, informed Martha, "Lex… used her in the worst way possible, if you know what I mean. That is why she ran. That is why she was so shaken and hurt that she crashed her car."

Martha just covered her mouth with her hands. Tears in her eyes.

"Mum, I'm sorry, I screwed up," Clark said, placing his hand on hers. "Please, please, forgive me."

"Clark, how many times do I have to tell you there's nothing to forgive?!" she raised her voice, anger replacing sorrow. "You did the right thing! If something like that happened to the person I love I would do the same! So stop! Stop it now!"

"I thought about leaving her," Clark confessed, "I mean… to protect her. She's so important to me, I love her so much… but I'm sure I'll have enemies. Enemies that would want to get to me through the people I love."

"Clark, you can't just keep breaking your own heart, because you think it would be for the best. It wouldn't be, believe me. I'm sure Jessica would prefer to spend a second with you than a whole lifetime without you," Martha told him.

Chloe shifted in her seat, she didn't really feel comfortable with hearing about love. She'd been in love with Clark since she could remember and now… Martha spoke from her own experience.

"I know, mum, and believe me, I will not break up with her. I'm…" he stopped, glancing surreptitiously at Chloe, but he couldn't just keep doing his best to spare her feelings. She needed to get over him, the sooner the better for her. "I love her too much. I can't imagine my life without her. It's like she's a part of me… I so wish dad could know that…"

"He did. He knew that the moment you told us you loved her, that morning," Martha assured him.

"I hope so… I wanted to say… I can't let her go, because I have to keep her away from Lex."

"And if you break her heart she will go straight to him," Chloe suddenly spoke, finishing Clark's thoughts.

"Yes, and I wouldn't bare him to hurt her."

* * *

"Lex, what are you doing here?" Jessica sighed as she stopped right after she crossed the Talon's threshold.

He was there, sitting and waiting for her. Who else could he expect?

"You don't pick up my calls, so I decided to show myself in person," he informed her in his usual cold, impersonal voice. "I guess you were too busy with your new boyfriend."

"Lex…"

"Don't. Don't try to deny it," he told her, getting to her before she would get to the stairs. "Jessica…"

"What? What do you want form me, Lex?" she asked, not following. "We are not going to date, I'm sorry. And we are not going to get together if that was on your mind. It's too late for that. I moved on."

"So you don't deny having feelings for me?" he asked, stopping her again as she wanted to walk right pass him.

"I had them, yes, but it's past tense for a reason."

His hand suddenly clenched on her arm.

"What does he have to offer you? What does he have that I don't?"

"Lex, you're hurting me!" she said, trying to get away, but his hold on her only got stronger. It was like a steel, painful vice on her arm. "Lex!"

"I'm so much better than he is!"

"It's not about who's better or who has more to offer!" she raised her voice in rage. "You want to know the biggest difference? Here you go, you asked for it! Clark's heart is so good! He's not you, he can love and care about a person, not hurt them!" She finally managed to free her hand and rubbed the stinging spot at instance. "You can't force someone to want you!"

"That is who I am. I'm sorry I'm not perfect. I'm sorry I wasn't raised by the saints that are Kents. Oh, wait, were Kents."

Her hands flung to his cheek on its own, slapping him.

"Don't you dare speaking like that about Clark's father!"

Lex just cocked his head. "We'll never get to the place we once were, won't we?"

"No, I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"Because it was an illusion, a teenager crush. I finally found something that is real and I'm sorry, but it's not with you."

She was shocked when he grabbed her arms and pulled her into a kiss. His lips barely touching hers when his body jerked back, almost thrown in the air.

"What…?" she looked around in shock. She didn't understand what just happened.

Clark was standing right by her side and Lex was lying on the floor.

"Stay away from her!" Clark exclaimed, one arm draping around Jess and bringing her closer to his body in protective gesture. "What happened to you Lex?"

"I grew up," the answer came as Lex raised himself from the floor, "and realized I should stop bending myself backwards to please others, to fit in just to find friends."

"That was your mistake, Lex," Clark said.

Lex glanced at Jessica cradled at Clark's side, her arms around his torso. They looked intimate, close, like only a pair of lovers could.

When Lex's eyes met hers he could see the fear in them. What had happened that from a pair of friends with perspective for the future they'd become enemies? What had happened that she'd been suddenly afraid of him?

But that what who he was. He'd tried not to push in the past, he'd tried to be her friend, he hadn't wanted to taint her with the evil he knew he had. Now when he wanted to take her, he didn't know any other way when she already was with someone else.

"I think it would be best if you just go," Clark said.

Lex had no choice.

He left.

"Oh my…" Jessica hid her face in Clark's chest and he could only brought her closer, shield her with his arms. "Good you were here," she said. She was shaking.

Clark was terrified of what would've happened if he'd come a little bit later or not at all. He had to thank Chloe. She was the one to tell him that he should check up on Jessica since the Talon legally belonged to Lex.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here earlier," Clark said.

"It's fine. You couldn't of known," she reassured him. "Thank you," she said honestly and raised her face to look at him. "I don't know what I would've done without you."

"Jessica, I know this is sudden and way too early, but I think you should stay at the farm. Lex can get to this place whenever he can, you can't protect yourself from him in here."

"Clark, Lex might've just tried to force a kiss on me, but I'm sure he wouldn't hurt me."

"Well, I'm not," Clark said, his voice serious and unyielding. "Please, you don't have to spend the nights with me, I just want to keep an eye on you. I wouldn't bare losing anyone else."

"I'll think about it, but… tonight I'll be gone anyway. I've called my uncle and I'm going for the weekend to Metropolis. It's been ages since I've seen him. He's the only blood family I have."

"Oh, ok," Clark said. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'll be fine. Thanks for offering, though." She stopped for a moment, thinking. "Going there, back to Metropolis… it makes me feel," she sighed. "I once wanted to attend Met U and now… I just wish I figured out already what to do with my life."

"I'm sure you'll come up with something to do eventually."

"Yeah, that would be nice. I can't be the waitress here indefinitely and I can't live on my trust found all the time either… Clark…" she suddenly started, tone of her voice changing, "do you think Lex was always like that? That when you warned me before, when you two were still friends, that he'd been that way?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's been always there and just recently started to crawl up on the surface?" Clark suggested.

"I think it happened the day he was split. Since that time he seemed darker."

"Even if, that just mean that it was inside him all along."

"Clark?" Jess asked again when she stopped on her way to her apartment.

"Yeah?"

"I understand that you're grieving and you may not be up to this, but… when I come back from Metropolis I expect an honest talk."

"I know," he just said, his voice hoarse.

* * *

**A/N **So, did you like it? Do you think Lex wouldn't actually hurt her this time? Are you mad at Clark for not spilling the truth in this chapter?


	7. Part 3 - The Truth - chap 1

**Part 3 The Truth**

**Chapter 1**

While Jessica was spending her time in Metropolis Clark decided to take care of the ship Lex had taken.

First he had to find it, but Chloe helped as always, providing him with all possible locations.

"So, LuthorCorp owns exactly three big warehouses around Smallville, there's more in Metropolis, but I figured he would keep something like that away from crowd. Here you go…"

"Thank, Chloe, you're a life saver!"

"Clark, remember to be careful. Those Kryptonians walked out of that ship after all."

"So it should mean it's empty, shouldn't it?"

"Just…"

"I know," he reassured her and speeded off.

* * *

He actually found the ship in the second warehouse that was the furthest. Clark expected it, but the first one was on the way, so it didn't hurt to check it up as well.

He got passed Lex's security as he always did, using his superspeed, so there was no way anybody saw him. He also used his heat vision to burn the cameras.

Now he finally found himself in the right room, the ship was placed in the middle of it. It was much bigger than his own that he'd destroyed in the past as it had been used by two grownups. Its surface looked so smooth it could be water, once again, something that was different from what Clark remembered.

He wondered what it could've been made of? Some Kryptonian metal? There was for sure nothing like it on this earth.

When taking a closer look Clark could exhale a breath of relief. It didn't look like Lex had managed to get inside. The brunette looked for a place that would fit a key similar to the one he remembered, but there was no such thing. The surface was completely smooth, no hatch, not even a single interruption.

Clark reminded himself that Jessica had said that it had opened from the inside. But when there was nothing inside anymore then how…

He stumbled backwards, feeling very weird. What just happened?

He looked down on his right hand, saw some black substance on it and then… it just disappeared like his skin absorbed it!

"What the…"

In the very moment the ship disintegrated. One second it was there, the next Clark was blinded by bright light and it was gone.

Something had changed inside of him as well.

He felt such a rage that the only outlet he could have was through killing somebody. Somebody that had betrayed him in every way possible.

He needed to kill Lex Luthor.

Why hadn't he thought of it before? That was the perfect way of protecting Jessica. Just get rid of the danger. Everybody would be happy. Then he would tell her about his powers and they would be free.

Clark smiled to himself and just flew off in the direction of the Luthor mansion.

Why hadn't he tried flying before? It felt amazing. He felt like he was completely free, not bounded by an laws of physics. Not bounded by anything. He could do what he wanted, he could conquer the world. He could become the new ruler. With Jessica as his queen.

He could see the mansion in the distance. Few more seconds and Lex's neck would be…

Clark suddenly froze at the ringing that he just heard in his head. What was that? And why it was hurting him so much?! He had to get rid of that pain, it was unbearable. The sound was too loud and it seemed to be… pulling him in a different direction, towards north.

Clark groaned in pain and turned around, as he was getting closer and closer to the North the pain was subsiding. He would find the source then and destroy it. Next thing? Killing Lex.

He saw the Ice Fortress in the middle of a frozen tundra.

That was the house of his biological father or maybe he should think the machine that contained his memories. He could bring that down, too. That would certainly make the noise go away and that would also free him from his father's influence. It was all Jor-Ell fault, wasn't it? He'd taken Clark's dad, he'd been the one to give him powers few years ago that had weakened his heart.

Only when he finally entered the fortress the ringing became so unbearable for him that he collapsed to the floor, his hands covering his ears, his face winced in pain. He couldn't think, couldn't move, couldn't focus. That pain…

Then his body was lifted above the ground and trapped in some magnetic field, the black substance his skin had absorbed was being gradually sucked out of him.

* * *

Jessica couldn't believe it. She just couldn't comprehend how a person that was her family…

She wiped the tears from her eyes and begun fishing for her cell in her bag. There was only one person in this world she had left and yet, she wasn't even sure if that relationship wouldn't just end when she heard the whole truth.

For now she couldn't think like that. She had to believe everything would be ok. As long as she had him.

Only he wasn't picking up his phone. Where was he? She thought he would always answer when she was the one calling.

* * *

The field disappeared and Clark's drained body fell to the ground.

A groan escaped his mouth as he tried to heave himself up.

"What… what did you do to me?!" he exclaimed when he finally managed to stand, although very shakily. "What's happening?!"

"Kal-El, my son, I have just saved your life," the answer from Jor-El, came. His voice unwavering and impersonal as always. It was a machine after all.

"What? What?!" Clark couldn't understand it. "What are you talking about?! How did I get here?!"

"You were infected by the Brain Interactive Construct. I had to summon you here to retrieve it and destroy it."

"Brain Inte… what is that?! Why can't I remember?! The last thing… the last thing I do remember is finding the ship in Lex's warehouse!"

"The Brain Interactive Construct _was _the ship. It infected you."

"It was controlling me?"

"Yes, Kal-El, it was. It infected you with darkness that didn't belong to you. It would force you to kill Lex Luthor and then bring back major Zod, the very same Kryptonian that destroyed our planet."

"Why would it do that? Why bringing him back?!" Clark shouted.

"To rule the earth. You see, Zod was banished to the Phantom Zone, an intergalactic prison. He won't stop until he'll find a way here. To Earth."

"Will he succeed eventually?" Clark asked.

"No through the Brain Interactive Construct I just destroyed. This way through is gone, Kal-El."

"Why it infected me? Why wouldn't infect someone else?"

"If you hadn't showed up there it would've eventually made its way through others. It would've chosen the people close to you, so you wouldn't be able to hurt them in order to destroy the Construct."

"How many threats like that are there?!" Clark asked. "I can't endanger the people I love!"

"Love is a human emotion, it makes you weak, Kal-El. If you dispose yourself of it, you will be able to fulfill your destiny as you are expected to."

"I will never throw love away!" Clark shouted. "If it hadn't been for my feelings for Jessica I wouldn't have known that Lex had the ship! Then that construct would've infected somebody else!"

"You will do what you please, Kal-El, just remember, I did warn you."

"I will not lead a loveless life! How would I be able to save people if I didn't care about them?!" Clark was strong, he could've pushed Jessica away when there'd been still time for it. He could've not pursued any relationship with her, but she would've been with Lex then. And even if Lex wasn't the problem, Clark wouldn't be just able to break her heart when she finally started feel something real towards him. It would be cruel, inhuman. He would not become such a cold person, he would not listen to Jor-El. That wasn't even his father. It was just a machine. What could it know?

After thinking it all over Clark just speeded out of there, directing himself back to Smallville.

* * *

"Where the hell have you been?!" Chloe was there, in the farm.

"Chloe, what are you doing here? How did you get here so fast from the Planet?" Clark asked her, surprised.

"So _fast_?! What the hell happened to you?! You've been gone for hours!"

"What?" Clark glanced at the clock that was hanging on the wall. "Wow! So it took really long…"

"What took really long? Did you find the ship?" Chloe was looking at him worryingly. "And are you sure you're ok?"

"Actually, not I'm not," and he just told her everything that had happened. "How can I listen to him? _It,_ I mean. It's just a machine."

"You just don't listen," Chloe advised him. "Clark that thing might've helped you saved the woman you love and just now your own life, but it doesn't mean that what it says is right. You can't just get rid of your feelings, they make you who you are. And you are an amazing man, Clark. You're the most noble and good person I know. Don't you dare changing it."

"I won't, don't worry. I can't imagine just switching all my feelings off. What would I become then?"

"Evan heroes need respite from saving people. You can't just act like a machine, because you will eventually become one and then, you won't care about helping. You won't care about anything. That's not life worth living."

"I know. I just have to figure out how to be there for others, how to use my powers to help them, but in the same time hide my true identity."

"I'm sure you'll come up with something."

"I have to. Every time somebody sees my face when I'm saving them… they can find me and through me they can get to you, Jessica, mum…" Clark felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket, so he took it out. "Great, now I've missed few calls from Jessica!"

"Few?" Chloe's eyebrows elevated. "She doesn't seem like a needy person, so it must be serious. Call her."

* * *

She was standing in a queue in the Metropolis Bank when her cell finally rang.

On seeing Clark's name on the screen she answered immediately.

"Jess? What is it? Where are you?" he asked, his voice caring and apprehensive in the same time.

"Oh, Clark," she said, doing her best not to cry. "I'm at the bank and I just… it's awful…"

"Is it Lex? Has he done some…"

"No," she cut in, "it's not about Lex. It's about my uncle. He's… he's like a stranger to me now… He doesn't care about me. He told me as I'm finally an adult then I can move on and leave him alone. That he's already paid his debt, that my parents can rest in peace and that he doesn't have to care anymore…" at the end her voice wavered.

"Jessica, I am so sorry…" Clark said, both with care and relief in the same time. Lex hadn't got to her, that was good. Her uncle, her only family abandoning her forever? That was tragic. "You still have me. I'm here for you."

"I know, but…" she started, wanting to tell him she couldn't go on with all those secrets even a day longer when…

"Don't move! This is a robbery!"

She stilled, then slowly turned around, her cell still next to her ear.

There were two men in masks on their faces, guns in their hands.

"To the ground! NOW! You! Give me the money!"

"Jessica!" she heard Clark's scream in her ear. "Hang on!" And the connection was lost.

"Clark? Clark?!" she was panicking. Where did he go? To call the police? But it was too late already, the robbery was happening and the police would never get there on time. Why did he leave her by the phone? Wouldn't he know she needed to hear his voice now more than ever?

"Lady! On the ground! NOW!" One of the man pointed his gun at her.

She could just stand there, shaking, tears in her eyes. She froze, wasn't able to move.

"I said…"

One of the hostage jumped to him, wanted to play a hero, took advantage of the man's distraction.

Only it ended with the gun firing. And it was pointed right at her.

She didn't feel any pain. There was no blood. No dying. No darkness.

She just felt a forceful push and suddenly was on the floor, on the opposite side of the room.

"What…?" she started, looking around, confused.

And then she was struck by seeing Clark right by her side, his arms draped protectively around her.

"Clark?" she asked in a strangled voice, holding onto his arms.

"Are you ok?" he asked her, his eyes so intense, his pupils boring into hers.

"Clark…" Her gaze shifted to his familiar red jacket where now was a bullet hole. "Oh my god, Clark, you got shot!" She quickly put her hand to that place, looking for a bullet wound. "What…?" she stopped, confused when all she could feel beneath her fingers was just skin, unbroken, perfect. No blood, no wound.

She looked at his face, completely astonished.

"You…" but voice stuck in her throat as she realized that must've been the truth he'd been hiding all this time. Only he'd told her he wasn't meteor infected… if that wasn't the case, then what? Metahuman? Not human at all?

But all she saw was just her dear Clark. Not a mutant.

"Hey! How did you get in here?! I don't rem…" She didn't catch the rest of that question, because she was swept into Clark's arms and… she couldn't even describe the feeling. It was like a rollercoaster moving fast only… it was Clark speeding.

She was suddenly standing on a bridge that was a way through the river on the outskirts of Metropolis.

"I'll be right back!" Clark told her and… was gone. Just disappeared.

She could only stand there, shaking slightly, overwhelmed by what she'd just found out.

Not only Clark's skin was impenetrable by bullets, he could as well run faster than them…

All the times he'd been there, saving people, saving Lana, saving Lex… it was because of his powers. Now it became clear to her how Clark could've been hit by Lex's Porsche on the bridge in Smallville and survived.

"Ok, I dealt with the robbers, delivered them to the police. Everyone's safe." She jumped on hearing his voice right next to her and on the rush of air she felt on her neck.

Clark was standing right next to her.

As she turned to face him she noticed how worried he was. Worried that she wouldn't accept him, she figured. That she would be scared of him.

"We need to talk," she just said.

* * *

**A/N **Did you like my way of dealing with Bainiac? (I have other ideas of how to follow with this story and it didn't fit there; P). Did you like the way Jess found out?


	8. Part 3 - The Truth - chap 2

**A/N **I hope you don't mind the fast updates. I'm having a long free weekend, so I keep writing.

Thank you for your reviews! : *

* * *

**The Truth**

**Chap 2**

"This is the big secret you've been keeping?" she asked as he was still just standing there in silence. "This is what you couldn't tell me? Clark… this isn't something you should be afraid of. I get that a lot of people would be scared of you or would want to find a way to take you down, but _I know you_. I think… I think what you can do… wow, this is just so amazing!" It hit her. The shock was over. She really felt like Clark was special and so good while not using his powers to get whatever he wanted.

"Jessica…" he started.

"If you were afraid I would turn my back on you… you were wrong," she just added.

"I'm not. I've already trusted you and told you."

"What are you talking about?" she asked him, frowning. "I think I would remember something like that…"

"Not if I… God, this is not how it supposed to be!" He stopped and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Hey, it's ok," Jess said soothingly and got closer to him, placing her hand on his cheek. "Take a deep breath, think and then tell me everything."

He opened his eyes and all he could think of was how beautiful she was, how she was still there. He didn't know why he was afraid she would take it differently now when he was actually telling her the truth the second time. The last time he hadn't freaked her out with manifesting his powers to save her, he'd just told her, so maybe that was why he was so fearful.

"Ok, please don't freak out, but…" Clark started, deciding to just go with it. Why did he have to live through this twice?! "I'm not human. I mean… I am, but I am also an… alien."

Jessica was standing there, watching him with ambiguous expression on her face. She was probably trying to come to terms with it.

"I came to earth from planet called Krypton. I was the sole survivor. My parents sent me here to save me and so I could help people, so I could make sure this planet survives. I have superpowers under the yellow sun, but I am not invincible. The meteor rocks… green ones… they can hurt me, even kill me. Red ones… well, you saw them affecting me. It was that summer I left to Metropolis."

Jessica's mouth flung open.

"Jess?" Clark asked, not really sure what she was thinking. The last time he'd told her slower. Now he just wanted to get it over with. "Jess? Please, say something, anything."

"Do you honestly want to tell me that I… lost my virginity to an alien?" She burst out laughing. "What?" she asked him when he didn't laugh at all, he was just worried and scared.

"Nothing, it's just the same reaction I saw on your face before."

"Ok, what the hell are you talking about now?"

"It's not everything."

"What else is there? You have some other superpowers I don't know about?"

"Well, yeah, that too, but…"

"Really?" she got interested. "What kind?"

"I can set fire with my eyes and see through solid objects."

"Wait a moment…" She folded her arms on her chest.

"Only when I really want to. I need to be focus as well and with you… it's hard. And I would never do that… I mean…"

"Ok, I know you," she smiled to him, "I know you wouldn't. Now, tell me the rest."

"You're sure you're alright?"

"Yes, Clark, I am. I've already told you I think you're amazing. You save people's lives and take zero credit for it… you truly are a superhero to me. And I feel so sorry for you. Travelling across the space, all alone. You're so lucky the Kents found you."

"I know…" he agreed, bitterness in his voice.

"What is it?"

He took a deep breath and slowly begun explaining everything there was to know about the fortress and his father's mind in there. And then, the worst came. He had to tell her about the day she died.

When he finished, when he revealed to her what he'd done and what had happened to his father in consequence, she shivered, her lower lip trembled.

"Clark," she whispered, her throat tightened, her eyes got glassy. "Clark, I am so, so sorry. It's all my fault… I mean…"

"No!" Clark denied quickly and put his arms around her, trying to calm her down, take her pain away. Only he knew it didn't work that way. "It's me. It was my fault. _I _was the one who didn't listen to my biological father. _I _was the one who put on the red kryptonite and ran off to Metropolis. I had to pay the price."

"But… but…" she stammered while sobbing.

"It wasn't you. You have no idea how glad I am that you're ok, that Lex didn't hurt you, that you are alive. And I don't blame you."

"Lex… is Lex… really capable of something so…" she kept sobbing.

"Yes, I'm sorry, but that is what he'd done."

She just kept crying.

"Jessica, he didn't actually hurt you. It didn't happen." Clark was stroking her back.

"But for you... it did," she said.

"No, it didn't. I changed it."

"Thank you. Thank you for saving me. Thank you saving my life," she kept crying and shaking.

"If you weren't with me I wouldn't have to save it," he whispered into her ear.

"But then… I would be with him and… god, how could I be so stupid?"

"It's ok, I'm here," Clark kept talking. Then he took her face in his hands and pulled her away from his arms to be able to look into her eyes. "I want you to know that I love you," he told her, honesty and feelings in his voice and eyes. "You are the one. I understand that you might not tell me that back, that you might never actually…"

"Clark," she stopped him.

"It's alright. I do understand that you are overwhelmed now and you have to deal with a lot, but I _need _you to know the whole truth. And I _need _you to know about my feelings."

She just nodded.

"Could you please take me home now?... Wait, no… I don't want to go back there. He can walk in any moment and…"

"I'll take you to the farm, you can stay there as I suggested earlier. I can also pick your stuff up from the Talon."

"Later… Right now… Clark, I just want to lie down in your arms, if you don't mind. But nothing more will happen tonight between us. I'm too…"

"I wouldn't expect it to," he assured her. "You lost and found out too much today. Add to that the robbery…"

"I just want to forget about it."

"Are you up for another ride in my arms?"

She just nodded.

* * *

"Here, honey, here… have some chamomile, that will calm you down," Martha offered Jessica before she would disappear upstairs with her son. "Clark, are you ok?"

"Yes, mum, I guess I am," he nodded. "She accepted me. What more could I ask for?"

"I would never not accept you, Clark," Jessica told him while taking his hand. "Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Kent," she turned to Martha.

"Oh, don't mention it, honey. And please, call me Martha, after all… well, I see a future for you two."

* * *

"Do you think you can fall asleep?" Clark asked Jessica as they got into his bed and she snuggled into him, his arms around her.

"I don't know. It's been a long day… but I'll try. Thank you for staying with me."

"I will never leave," he promised while gently stroking her hair and watching her just lying there, in his embrace. "God, I don't know what I would've done without you," he whispered to her few minutes later when her eyes were closed.

"I don't know what I would've done without you, too," she answered to his surprise. Her hand stroking his chest through his shirt. "Thank you for being here for me. I have no idea what is it that attracts you to me, but I'm grateful."

"What do you mean?" Clark asked.

"I mean… how somebody like you could love somebody like me? Just a mere human."

"You're not a mere human in my eyes," he assured her and met her eyes. "You're everything to me and… love just is." Then he bent down, giving her the hint and as she raised her head their lips met in a gentle kiss.

Then she came back to her previous position. Maybe she could fall asleep after all. With Clark she felt safe. Lex didn't know about his powers and even if, he couldn't have known about the kryptonite. She was really save.

* * *

When she opened her eyes he was still there, still holding her tightly, one of his arms under her head.

He was staring at her, she could feel it.

"If you keep it up you'll burn a whole in my head," she said with her eyes still closed.

Clark chuckled.

"Don't worry. If you were in any danger of that… I'm pretty sure I would've done it already. I can control my powers."

"What do you mean?" she asked and finally opened her eyes and cocked her head to look at him.

"I mean that…" He actually avoided her eyes now.

"Hey, you can tell me," she encouraged him and put her hand to his cheek, gently nudging him to look back at her.

God, he was handsome, ran through her mind. Why hadn't she noticed it before? Well, she had, but just as a fact, she hadn't suspected she would be attracted to him some day, her whole attention had been focused back there on Lex. Maybe it'd been because he seemed original? And eligible? Could that be the case? She was never a shallow person who would just go for a billionaire for his money, but she had found his bald head irresistible. And her subconscious could've just nudged her towards Lex, telling her that she would live like in a fairy tale with him. What an awful misconception.

Life was never a fairy tale, and never would be, even with Clark. There was just too much danger around him.

"I… those…" Clark stammered and finally just took a deep breath, spilling it, "my heat vision first manifested itself when I thought of… sex," he admitted.

"Oh, really…"

"Yes, you have no idea how scared I was. I didn't want to come out of the house. I didn't want to look into anybody's eyes. I was scared I would set them on fire."

"So… Lana caused it?" Jessica prompted.

"Actually, no," Clark said and that picked her interest even more. "That was our new sex education teacher, Desiree."

"Wait a minute… I know that name…"

"Lex's first wife. She was a meteor freak and tricked him into marrying her."

"Didn't she come on to you, too?" Jess asked. "I remember Lana telling me something about that."

"Yes, but I pushed her away."

"Wow… I'm proud of you, Clark. Any teenager in your place…"

"It was the right thing to do," he just said like it was not a big deal.

"Right, but still… that makes me feel so much safer with you than would with somebody else."

"You mean…?" he hinted, distress hearable in his voice.

"No," she denied, "I was just saying in general."

"Ok, then."

"And seriously!" she suddenly raised her voice what made him look at her like he didn't know what she was talking about now. "Stop staring at me! I am certainly not _that_ pretty."

"You are to me," he just said, being serious.

"Yeah, right."

"I wish you could see yourself through my eyes."

"I can assure you I would not set myself on fire," she said and they both laughed.

"No, you wouldn't, because you prefer men over women. That is why you have me in your bed."

"Actually, that's your bed."

"Right."

"And your mother's downstairs," Jessica actually frowned.

"Were you having any ideas?" One of Clark's eyebrows elevated.

"So what if I was?" Jessica winked at him. "There are no lies between us anymore, no secrets."

"Yes, I agree. And I think we should promise each other to always be honest."

"Me, too… How long had you been awake before I woke up?" she asked.

"A while," she felt his arm shrugging underneath her. "I'm used to getting up early to do my chores. Besides, I don't need that much sleep."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Right, superpowered alien. Still wrapping my mind around it all. "

"Did something change?" he asked, apprehension in his voice like he was scared it did, but for worse.

She didn't say anything, she just got closer to his face and kissed him. He smiled against her lips.

"Isn't your arm sore?" she suddenly asked against his lips. "I've been lying on it all night."

"No, because…"

"Oh, shut up, superhuman!" she huffed and got out of bed, then she pointed her finger at him. "Don't think I won't use that benefit of having superpowered boyfriend."

"Believe me, I'll be my pleasure."

* * *

About ten minutes later they went downstairs where they were welcomed by a fresh breakfast prepared by Clark's mother.

"Good morning. How are you, dear?" she directed that question to Jessica who just took a seat by the table.

"Better, thank you." She smiled to Clark's mum. "Mrs. Kent, you didn't have to do all of that."

"Oh, that's no problem. What else am I supposed to do now? And please, stop calling me Mrs. Kent, dear." She looked weird, there was that strange worried look on her face like she was intensely thinking about something.

"Mum, is there something wrong? I can see something's bothering you," Clark noticed. He was sure that it wasn't about Jessica. The Kents were used to even strangers staying with them. And Jess was like family now.

"Oh, well, in fact, yes, Clark. I have a decision to make, but… I don't want to leave you here all alone."

"Mum, what are you talking about?" he frowned and walked over to Jess to pour orange juice to her glass.

"Thanks." She sent him another wonderful smile.

"They want me to take your father's seat in the Senate," she finally admitted.

"That is… that is wonderful," Jessica stated her opinion. "Mrs. Kent, that is… I mean, Martha," she corrected herself on seeing the look on Clark's mother's face, "that is a great opportunity. Why do you even have to think about it?"

"It's a very big step. Leaving the farm, all my life…"

"Mum, I'm sorry to say that, but what do you really have here?" Clark asked. "Dad is gone. I have Jessica. You have really no reason to stay. I would miss you very much if you went there, but I would hate to see you missing something like that. You can carry out dad's vision. You can actually do what he wanted to do. Don't let Lex take the seat."

"Oh, my, I didn't even think…"

"Well, Lex is next in line unless they call for another poll…" Jessica wondered. "We would have to look into it. I'm pretty sure Chloe would know…"

"What is that makes you even think it all over?" Clark asked.

"Well, you."

"Mum, I've already told you, I'm not alone. I have Jessica, I have Chloe."

"But…"

"Mrs… Martha, I promise you, I will not leave your son," Jessica said as she looked Martha in the eye. "I want to be here, with him. I can support him."

"Oh, I so wish Jonathan lived to see this day. To see Clark finally finding somebody…" Martha was on the verge of crying now.

"I'm sorry," Jess added, regretting her words.

"Oh, don't be. It's not your fault. It's nobody's fault."

"Mum, dad knew about her before…" Clark started. "And I'm sure that he could tell what the future would bring."

"Yes… yes… you two are right. I think… I think taking that seat would be a good call. After all, I graduated Met U with the highest score. Don't get me wrong, son, I never regretted having moved here for your father, but he's gone now and…"

"We understand. Call them, mum. Call them right now. You have to take that seat. I think they need you in there, they need your wit, intelligence and heart."

"You're sweet, Clark." Martha patted his hand and then she went to get the phone.

Clark's eyes shifted to Jessica.

"What are we going to do today?" he asked. "Do you want to get your things from the Talon?"

She nodded. "And I would like to return the key to Lex."

"Do you mind if I come with?" Clark asked again, this time more tentatively, "I know you can handle it, I just… I don't want to take any chances with you being alone with him."

"You know, he was drunk back then… as you told me, so maybe that's the reason. Not that I remembered something that didn't actually happen… but yes, I would actually like you to come with me. I don't want to be alone with him."

* * *

"So, do you want to do this your way… or mine?" Clark asked when they finally got to the Talon.

"What do you mean?" she wanted to know as she looked at him with curiosity.

"Do you like moving out?"

"No, actually I hate it. I hate having to pack all my stuff and then transport them somewhere else. I would prefer to finally stay in one…"

"Do you trust me?" Clark interrupted her.

"Yes."

It happened in a few seconds. She could feel the air moving around like it was winding, only it was impossible, because all the windows were closed.

And then Clark was standing right next to her, all her things neatly packed in her bags and boxes that were now scattering the floor.

"How did I do?" he asked, very proud of himself what she could tell by the cocky smile on his face.

"Oh, don't feel so good about yourself. It's all because you're an alien!" She pretended to huff at him.

"Is that a bad thing? This way we have it all done and we can have some time for ourselves," he said while bringing her closer to him and leaning towards her lips.

"We still need to get that key back to Lex," she said while putting a hand to Clark's chest to stop him. "So, if you don't mind…"

"Of course."

"I want it to be over and it won't be if I keep stalling. We can have some time for ourselves later, ok?"

"Sure, no problem. Let me just…" he looked around.

"Just what?" she asked, but he was already gone, taking two boxes with him.

She waited few seconds until he appeared again.

"I wish I had Bart to help," he sighed.

"Who's Bart?"

"A kind I met a while back. Could run faster than me…" Clark explained, took another few bags and disappeared.

Finally, it was all gone. The apartment looking cold as there was no evidence of anyone living there anymore.

"What do you think Lex will do with this place?" Jess asked as Clark put his arms around her from behind. She leaned back into him, loving his strong hard chest against her back. She would never feel safer than with him, in his embrace.

"I don't know. Maybe he'll sell it."

"I hope the coffee shop downstairs remains," Jessica sighed.

"Who knows… it would be a shame to turn it into a parking garage now…" Clark admitted. "Only, back then Lex gave it to Lana out of his good heart. Now…"

"You're not sure how much of that goodness is still in him," Jessica finished.

"Exactly. I look back at those times and… I feel such a regret, such angriness. Maybe if I'd broken him out of BelleReve before his father…"

"Clark," Jessica turned around to look him in the eye, "it wasn't your fault. I understand that the fact you have powers make you think you should safe everyone, but it's just impossible. You don't know what Lex would eventually do with the knowledge of your secret. You don't know how close Lionel was and maybe still is watching him. You couldn't take that chance."

"I love you so much," he said and leaned towards her again, this time kissing her successfully. "And I don't expect you to say it back," he added when they parted. He was scared that if he put too many emotions into that kiss they would end up somewhere not even near the mansion they were about to go.

"I'm glad you understand. I'm still…"

"I know," he said, cupping her face. "Ready for a ride to the mansion?" he asked while raising her up from the ground.

"Yes, but please, stop before we reach it. I don't want him to suspect anything about your powers."

"Of course," he agreed and they were gone.

* * *

"You need an escort now when you come to see me?" Lex asked coldly, looking at Clark standing by Jessica's side with disdain.

"Lex…" she started, but then stooped.

She looked into his eyes, remembered all those time she'd been doing that, remembered she'd seen warm there, affection. She remembered all the times they'd spent together, playing chess, talking. She remembered how much she'd wanted him. And then she remembered the moment he'd come to her and tired to seduce her. He'd been split back there, evil. And since that time... everything had started getting worse. He'd been getting worse.

"Lex, I just came here to return the keys to the Talon. I'm moving out," she finally uttered.

"I see…" Lex said slowly. "Isn't it a little too fast for you two? After all it would be nice to have a place to come back to if this doesn't work out."

"What makes you think…" Jessica started and stopped as she handed him the keys. "Never mind, it's none of your business. I just… I need to get back." She turned around.

Clark remained silent by her side, he wasn't really able to speak. If he started… he wasn't know what he would say to Lex. He couldn't help feeling angry at him, he couldn't help all those resentments. Even if him raping Jessica didn't really happen, it had happened for him. _He_ had had to live through that day.

"What happened to us?" Jessica heard Lex asking when she was just about to reach the door, so she looked at him again. "What have I done to you that is so terrible that you won't even speak to me? I'm sorry about that other day. I promise you, it will never happen again."

She could just stand there, looking into his eyes. Suddenly, he was like her old Lex. The one she'd known well, the one she'd felt for. But he wasn't anymore. She knew it was just an act, an illusion. Even if he tried she knew there would always be that darkness inside of him. She doubted she could get it out. If anyone could get it out. It was rooted too deep.

"How many times do I have to apologize?" And there it was, he couldn't act for long. Now he was impatient, he wanted to get to the truth for all cost.

She didn't know what to tell him. For sure she couldn't tell him the truth. How would that sound? _Hey, Lex, you raped me and got me killed and then Clark went back in time to save me. Oh, and instead me, his own father died._

"Just… let it go, Lex. I'm sorry, it's too late. We're both different people now… Goodbye," she finally said and turned from him for real.

"Clark, be careful," Lex told him. "If you act as always, you'll lose her before you manage to blink. Remember what happened with Lana."

Clark just clenched his fists, Jessica could sense him tensing by her side, but he did not say anything back, all that came out of his mouth was, "take care, Lex. Be… careful."

When the study door closed behind them and they found themselves in the hall, walking towards the exit, Jessica started crying.

"Jess…" Clark said in hushed voice and pulled her into his arms, hugging tightly. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry it had to end like this."

"I hate to see him so… changed," she confessed. "I mean… I have no romantic feelings for him anymore and I… I think there would never actually be anything… between us, but… he was my friend, Clark. I can't just…" she sobbed. "I can't just erase it. I can't believe he's changed so much… I can't believe the Lex I knew is… gone."

"I know, me, too. Me, too," Clark said, stroking her back gently. "But I'm here. You can be sure I will never change."

"I know. I just… I think this is it…" she pulled away to look him in the eye, "this is it. The end. There's no me and Lex anymore. No you and Lex. Whatever there was is broken forever."

Clark looked hurt now, so she added, "I don't love him, Clark. I never really did, you know that." She placed her hand to Clark's chest where his heart was. "Do you believe me?"

"Yes, yes, I do… I just… I hate to see you suffering like that. I hate to see my old friend… So much has changed. Lana died, Pete left, my father… and my mum is leaving and Chloe is going to Met U."

"Well, you won't really lose your mum and Chloe since you can run very fast," Jessica forced herself to joke a little to make it all a little more bearable for them. "And you have me."

"Yes, I do." He smiled to her. "And this is the most precious thing I have. I need to protect it with every fiber of my being."

They walked out of the mansion.

That was goodbye. That was farewell. That was Jessica letting go off an old friend.

Things changed, life went on. Only it still hurt.

* * *

**A/N **Tell me if it was any good ; P

Do you think Lex will just let it go? What will happen? What kind of new characters we'll see?


	9. Part 3 - The Truth - chap 3

**The Truth**

**Chapter 3**

There was a knocking on the door. Clark was out, helping his mother shopping as Jessica stayed home, trying to figure out what to do with her life. Maybe she should pick some curse on Met U, but which one? Get a job? What kind of a job?

She sighed heavily and heaved herself up from the couch, going to the door. She knew Clark would be angry at her for opening it, because it could be Lex, it could also be someone sent by him, but Clark was not there.

As the door swung open Jess was stunned by drop dead gorgeous blond guy.

"Hi!" His face brightened in a smile when he saw her. "I'm here to see Martha Kent."

"Sorry, but she's not here. Shall I take a message?" she asked.

"Yeah… I thought she'd be here. After all she agreed to meet me… only she probably thought we'd do it in the office and here I am, out of work, out of my suit."

"Who are you?" Jessica cocked her head, confusion on her face. She didn't know what he was talking about, but it wasn't like Martha was sharing everything with her.

"Yeah…" his voice trailed off. "Where are my manners? But I kind of thought people recognize me. How pompously is that? I'm Oliver Queen." He reached his hand to her.

"Oh, wait… now something rings a bell!" Jessica admitted. Chloe had told her something about Queen visiting Metropolis in business.

"Rings a bell? Boy, you don't follow news, do you? I mean… I don't want to be rude or anything..."

"It's ok. I've had pretty enough on my plate recently, so following the news wouldn't make me feel any better."

"Aha, probably the meteor shower. Sorry about that. It must've sucked."

"It did," she admitted. She still couldn't figure out if she liked that guy or not. "So, what do you want me to pass to Martha?"

"Just give her my number," Oliver decided, handing her his card. "Tell her to call me as soon as possible."

"Jess…" they heard a voice from behind Oliver. She could tell it was Clark. And he wasn't very happy with her that she'd opened the door to a stranger. "Who is that?"

"Hi, Oliver Queen."

Jessica almost burst into laugh. That billionaire had be very cocky since it still surprised him that somebody might not know him. Everyone knew Lex, but again, his bald head was rather a unique thing that catch many eyes.

"He's here to see you mum, Clark," Jess informed and moved a little so Clark could come inside and put the bags he was carrying on the kitchen table.

"Oh, so you're Martha's son. Nice to meet you." Oliver smiled to him and shook his hand as Clark turned back him. "Where's your mum?"

"She's by the car. There are still some bags in there…" Clark stopped, his eyes shifted from Jessica to Oliver and back.

This time Jess couldn't stop herself and started laughing for real.

The look that Clark sent Oliver was hilarious. He was jealous of him.

And Oliver must've noticed, because he said, "your girlfriend is really hot."

"Yes, and she's also my girlfriend… Jess, it's not funny."

"I'm sorry," she tried to stop laughing, but it didn't work. She started all over again. "It's just… so funny watching you being jealous of me."

"Did I miss something?" Martha appeared by the door, carrying three more bags.

"Let me get those." Clark quickly took them from her.

"Yeah, I was just messing with you, buddy," Oliver admitted and patted Clark's back after he took care of the bags. "Although you are really beautiful," he turned to Jessica. "I mean it."

"Thank you." She sent him a giddy smile. "You're not too bad yourself… oh, get it over, Clark. I won't rush to another billionaire."

"Another?" Oliver's eyebrows elevated.

"Eh, we don't know each other very well," Clark started, "so let me just say… we have history with the Luthors."

"Oh, I didn't know you were dating Lex. There were never any rumors or gossips…"

"I wasn't. It's… complicated. But… I wasn't involved with him like that," she said. "You know him?"

"We attended the boarding school together."

"Why don't you tell us about it inside?" Martha asked. "And I believe you had something for me."

"Of course, Mrs. Kent, but I don't want to…"

"Don't be silly. Come in. We could all use some cake right now. You can join if you want."

* * *

"So, how's living on the farm?" Chloe asked when Jessica visited her at the Planet.

"Alright. And so much better than living in the Talon."

"Well, I can imagine. After all, you are not alone now and you have your boyfriend there. Oh, and Martha Kent is going to Washington. That means you two will be all alone…" Chloe smiled impishly at Jessica.

"Chloe!"

"What?"

"I thought… Are you…" Jessica stammered.

"What? Am I over Clark? I'm getting there. Don't worry about me. My world doesn't revolve around him and actually… I think I met someone. I mean… I'd known him already, but…"

"Do tell!"

"It's not really a romantic story. I met him on my internship about three years ago and we…"

"You what?"

"You know, did it."

"Oh," Jessica finally understood. "So… it didn't work out then?"

"I guess… he was at his fist year at Met U and I was just a high school girl. And I guess, it was casual. I was hurting, so I…"

"I'm sorry. Have you ever regretted it?"

"Yes… and no," Chloe admitted. "That was my first time and they say it should be special. It wasn't for me. It was the back of a car."

"Oh, I'm sorry… but if you care about him now then maybe it happened for a reason?"

"Maybe." She shrugged. "Anyway… I dealt with it and I'm not thinking about what could've been… if I hadn't done it back there, I would've probably still…" her voice trailed off.

"There's no shame in that, Chloe. It happens to people in all different ages. It happened for me only recently."

"I know, but isn't this world cruel and different? When you're twenty and a virgin it's like a stigma."

"Well, we're almost twenty, but I understand. I guess the only thing we can do is to have our own beliefs and not do something just because others do it. I never was one of those girls that wanted to wait until wedding, but I wanted to wait for the right guy."

"Clark," Chloe sighed. "Only… you didn't know that he was the one when you first…"

"Sadly, no. But I'm beginning to believe it was meant to be that way. Something told me to do that, to not change my mind. And I trusted that feeling. Never regretted it."

"Well, of course you didn't. Clark loves you. What more a girl…" Chloe started, but stopped and looked at her computer screen. "How do you like it?"

"Green Arrow?" Jessica asked, pretty interested. "Who's that?"

"A vigilante that recently appeared in Metropolis. He's wearing those black glasses and a hood, his suit is green and he's a master in shooting arrows. I was thinking about a name like Modern robin Hood, but it wouldn't sell. Instead, I came up with the Green Arrow."

"I like it," Jess admitted and read a few lines. "He was first noticed in Star City?" there was something at the back of her head, stinging, like she'd already known the answer, but didn't realize it yet. "Who is it?"

"We don't know. That's the whole point of the disguise. I'm not sure I would like to know, though," Chloe said. "He does a lot of good. There are already about ten criminals he put behind bars. I think I need to talk to Clark about it. If he had a disguise like this guy… Jess? Jess, are you listening to me?"

"Yeah, I just… there's something bothering me. Like I… like I could figure out who this guy is, but I don't know how and where it even came from. I need to think about it… where did I hear that name Star City…"

"Careful, you know," Chloe suddenly said, her voice amused.

"Of what?" Jessica turned to look at her.

"That how it started with me. I wanted to get to the truth, because of that strange feeling inside. Today I'm a reporter."

"I don't think I would be any good at it," Jessica told her. "Although I still have to figure out what to do with my life."

"You can start here."

"No, I'm telling you, it's not for me!"

* * *

Jessica put the paper back on the table.

"Interested in who he is?" Martha asked when walking into the kitchen. Her bags were ready by the door.

"Yeah… It makes me think, you know? As… if Clark could somehow hide his face, maybe he would be able to help people and in the same time he wouldn't have to endanger me or you."

"Yes, that would be nice. Me being in Washington won't be easy for him. If someone finds out that my son is…" she stopped. "But I have to do this. It's what Jonathan wanted to do. He wanted to save the world. He saw how much good his son can do and he just wanted to make him proud."

"Clark was proud of him either way. His father was his role model."

"Yes, I know."

"I wish I could thank him. You know… without such a father Clark wouldn't be the amazing man he is today. The man that loves me so much and is so good to me. I appreciate it even more when I see… what Lionel…"

"…did to his own son?" Martha finished with a sigh. "I know, deary, I know. It's painful to watch, but we can't save everybody, we can't fix the whole world."

"Yes, and it sucks!"

"But we can do our best and help those we can help," Martha tried to make Jessica feel better.

"I'll miss you, Mrs… Martha…" Jessica corrected immediately. Maybe in a month or so she would finally remember to call her by her name and wouldn't feel weird about it, "you're like a mother to me. And I don't even remember my own."

"Thank you. And you're like a daughter to me. I mean it."

The door opened and Clark walked inside.

"Where have you been the last few nights?" Jessica asked. She wasn't about to tell him in front of his mother that she needed him in her bed, even if it was to just hold her, but she could at least ask that.

"I was… sorry, I was just out there, helping."

"You know who he is!" Jess raised her voice in excitement and stoop up.

"What?" Clark asked, playing dumb.

"Oh, please! Chloe heard from one of her sources that the Green Arrow was seen in the company of a tall, muscular man. They did not see your face, but I'm pretty sure it was you!"

"Jessica, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you. It doesn't concern us. It's his secret, not mine to tell."

"Oh, I understand," she admitted, feeling a little disappointed, "but it'll be alright if I figure it out all by myself, won't it?"

Martha laughed.

"Oh, Clark, you know how to pick them. Something tells me this one here won't stop until she gets to the truth."

"I just don't like secrets. I don't mean to hurt people or to expose them. I just like to know."

"Uhm…" Clark nodded. "Mum, are you leaving already?"

"Yes, son. I think you've lost your track of time while helping that vigilante," Martha said and smiled to him. "You know with your speed you can visit me anytime you want." She walked towards him and raised on her toes to give him a hug.

Clark bent down and reciprocated. "Take care of yourself, mum."

"I will. Don't worry. Nothing will happen to me there. It's not Smallville, is it?"

"Do you need a ride?"

"I'm fine. There's a car waiting for me outside. Take care of yourself, Clark, and… be careful."

"I will. Love you mum."

"You know, I think you could pull that off," Jessica said when they were left alone.

"Pull what off?" Clark asked, not following. He walked to the counter to pour himself some coffee.

"You could put a mask on and then no one would recognize you. I would be safe and you would be able to help people."

"Jess…"

"I'm serious. Why not? What Green Arrow is doing is just amazing. And you… you could be so much better."

"Because I'm not human. If someone finds out…"

"Clark, why do you assume…"

"What if someone has kryptonite by their side?"

"Yeah, because everyone's walking around with meteor rocks or maybe even kryptonite bullets."

"I'm sure that eventually, we'll figure something out," he told her, placing his hand over hers. "I promise. I will not let my powers to go to waste."

"I know, I believe in you."

* * *

The next morning Jessica woke up alone again.

She frowned. She hated when Clark wasn't there. Waking up by his side always made her mornings that much better.

She huffed and went to take a shower. She would have a talk with Clark. A serious talk. She knew he just discovered how much good he could do, but he could be there for her sometimes, couldn't he?

As she began walking down the stairs she heard voices, so she decided she would just tell him it now. She stopped as she recognized the other belonged to Oliver Queen. She had no idea they actually became buddies. Why wouldn't Clark tell her?

"So I guess I'll be off then. Back to Star City. There's so many people out there that need help. You can make a difference here, Clark and I can…"

"I knew it!" She ran into the kitchen, completely surprising them. "I knew it! _You _are the Green Arrow!" She pointed Oliver. "Why didn't I figure it out before? So obvious! Both from Star City! Both appeared in Metropolis in the same time!"

Oliver was just standing in the middle of the kitchen, speechless.

"Oh, don't worry," Jessica quickly followed, "your secret's safe with me. I promise.'"

But Queen still wasn't convinced.

"Yeah," Clark agreed, "she knows something about people like us, Ollie. You can trust her. She would never betray you as she would never betray me."

"Well… then I guess I'll be going. Nice seeing you, beautiful," he smiled to Jess.

"Her name is Jessica," Clark corrected

"Yeah, I know, I just like teasing you, Clark." Oliver laughed. "Just make sure that someday you won't write an article about me with too many details, so someone would guess my identity."

"I'm not a reporter," Jessica said, frowning. "Why would you think that?"

"Really? You just have features of one, I guess." He shrugged. "If you two ever need something…"

"Thanks," Clark said. "See you, Oliver!"

"You, too!" And he was gone.

"Happy now?" Clark turned to her with tired look in his eyes.

"Gosh, you don't have to be so grumpy about it. I would've got it out of you anyway."

"Really? I wonder how."

"Through sex, of course," she said idly, but knew Clark started having thoughts immediately. "Not that I'll get any soon. I keep waking up alone. And I don't like it, you know. I kind of started sleeping in your bed the first day I moved in and… now it's like my bed."

"My mother was home," Clark told her, "and I was helping…"

"I know, but she's not here anymore. Neither is Oliver."

"So I promise to take a good care of you. Just wait a minute… need a shower…" he speeded off to the bathroom upstairs.

"If you'd woken up with me, we would've had it together!" she yelled after him, knowing well that he would hear.

He was down very fast, only his boxers on.

"I didn't agree to anything yet," Jessica said coldly. "You haven't apologized to me." She turned her back on him, so she wouldn't have to look at his perfect body. That sight was distracting her. And she wouldn't give in so easily.

"I… I wasn't implying… oh, I just don't have any clean clothes left," Clark admitted, his voice a little embarrassed.

"Come again?" she asked, turning to him. Disbelief mixing with amusement on her face. "Are you honestly telling me that that a man of steel who can stop a bullet with his bare hands can't do his own laundry?" Her eyebrows elevated.

"Well… mum was always doing it…" Clark said.

Jessica burst out laughing.

He was standing half naked in the kitchen not because he wanted to have sex with her, but because all his clothes were dirty.

"Don't laugh… And I'm not asking you to do it for me, I just… I'll do it myself."

"So what are you still doing here?" she prompted.

"I need a few directions of how to…"

She laughed again.

In the end her eyes did stop on his chest, then wandered down.

He was watching her watching him and she could feel the need in the air.

"Well, we can leave that for latter. I wouldn't like to wasted such a naked opportunity," she smiled mischievously.

"So you forgive me for not being there when you woke up?" he asked as she finally made her way to him and slid her hands down his chest.

"If you apologize nicely… and make it up to me," she told him, looking up at him, sparks in her eyes.

"Oh, I will…" his voice husky as he leaned down for a kiss.

She actually didn't let him kiss her, she walked over to the fridge and opened it.

"What are you doing?" Clark asked, totally confused.

"I'm hungry," she just answered.

"What… you're kidding, right?"

"No… oh, I knew I've seen it here!" She straightened up, closed the fridge and shook the container she'd just taken out.

"Whipped cream? For breakfast?" Clark didn't seem to get the hint.

"For somebody so talented you aren't smart enough sometimes," she teased him and then… some of the whipped cream landed on his chest. "Upps… I'm so clumsy…" she said and licked it off, trailing a path across his nipple with her tongue until the cream was gone.

"Uhm…" Clark just uttered, closing his eyes in pleasure as another lashing of whipped cream landed on his belly.

He woke up when Jessica pulled the boxers off of him and attacked his hard cock with the cream.

"What… what are you doing?!" he asked, looking down at her.

His cock was all in whipped cream and her face was right next to it as she crouched.

"What does it look like?" she asked and then licked his length, tasting the cream.

"Oh, god!" Clark moaned loudly.

"Thank god we're alone in here," Jessica agreed and licked again.

"You… you don't have… to… to do that," Clark stammered as his hands grabbed the edge of the table and it came off.

"You'll have to fix it," Jessica told him as she saw what he'd done. "And I want to do that. I like it…" This time she took him in her mouth.

There was a crash and the table was broken.

"Ok, I think we need to stop before you destroy our house," she said, but his hand flung to her head and kept her in place. She liked it. She knew there was a animalistic side to Clark and she loved to awake it. She trusted him not to hurt her. He would never do that. He knew what was permitted. Like destroying the table.

"I'll fix… it… later…" he said in husky voice.

When the cream was all gone from his crouch, Jessica was just sucking him off and squeezing his balls with her hands.

"Oh fuck… yes… Jess… Jess… I love you… so much… love…" he kept murmuring.

She loved his reactions.

She loved his release even more.

His whole body tensed, his face contorted in the greatest of pleasures and he finally shot out, spilling his seed into her mouth.

She swallowed what she could and finally stood up.

"So, how did you like it?" she asked.

In an answer she was swept into his arms and they were suddenly in the dining room. Clark placed her on the table.

At the questioning look she gave him, he explained, "I wanted to take you on the table, but the one in kitchen is useless now." He took off her jeans, ripped her panties at the seam and slid himself inside.

"Oh… god!" she opened her mouth widely as she felt him there. "How did… oh yeah… how did that happen?"

"What?" he asked, not pushing into her yet, just looking at her.

"How did you get hard again so fast? It's not…"

"…normal? I'm everything but normal, baby."

"Oh… I like that."

"And if you kept squeezing me harder back there, in the kitchen, you wouldn't hurt me."

Her desire for him was so strong right now that she was left with no words.

He recognized the signs and started fucking her hard.

"I love… your powers…" she murmured.

After they both climaxed, she said, "but you know what? I can't apply more pressure on you, honey, because… then when I'll be with someone else I might injure him…"

The outraged look Clark sent her caused her to burst out laughing.

"You are mine," he told her, grabbing her face and looking her in the eye. "I wouldn't stand somebody else touching you."

He was so possessive it made her hot all over again.

"I was just joking, but the reaction you've given me… I need to tease you more often, Clark. I can't recognize you when you're so possessive, but I love the thrill of it…"

* * *

**A/N **So, did you like me introducing Oliver and Jimmy? And that whipped cream…

And yes, it seems so happy and idle, but the dark clouds are already on the horizon!


	10. Part 3 - The Truth - chap 4

**A/N **Than you for reviewing! It really keeps me going, so keep it up!

There's a new video in my profile called **Part 3 The Truth, **so check it up!

* * *

**The Truth**

**Chapter 4**

"Jessica?! Is that you?!" Clark yelled as he heard footsteps on the stairs. Someone was climbing up to his loft. "I'm in here and I thought we could have… some fun," he finished clumsily. He didn't know what his issues were. What they'd already done together was way beyond PG13 and yet, he had difficulties with calling things by its name. Well, unless he was naked or hard or inside her… he still had no idea how she was doing it. She had the power to change him into some kind of an animal. And he liked it.

He felt her presence behind and then she hugged him from the back, embracing his back.

"What do you want to do?" he asked, placing his hands over her arms folded on his chest. Wait… there was something wrong… she didn't feel like…

"Whatever you want me to. I'm all yours," he heard a whisper in his ear. It wasn't Jessica's voice. That wasn't her body. It was some other woman.

He jumped away, breaking the embrace.

"Who are you?!" he asked on seeing a beautiful red head, but it wasn't his red head.

"Oh, come on. A little fun?" she asked and closed the distance between them, trying to embrace him again and reach to his face.

"Get away from me!" he yelled, pushing her away. "Who are you?! What are you doing?!"

"Oh, Clark…" She just shook her head. "Just let me…" When she got to him the third time there was another voice, coming from the stairs.

"Clark?" It was Jessica.

"Jess… it's not what you think!" Clark said the lamest used up excuse ever. How could she ever believe him?

"I know," she just said to his astonishment.

"You do?"

"Yes. I've spent quite a while here. I saw her coming in. Who are you?" Jessica asked when coming closer to the woman.

"I… I'm leaving," she just heard in answer.

"Wait!" Jess got angry with her now, her hands grabbing the stranger's arm. "You tell me who are you and who send you right now!"

"Let me go, you bitch!" The woman freed her arm and ran down the stairs.

"Oh, that bastard!" Jessica yelled and got downstairs as well.

"Jess?! Jessica, where are you going?!" Clark asked, coming after her.

"Don't you dare stop me!" she just shot and ran to her car.

He can hear her starting the engine.

He wouldn't stop her, but he would watch over her. He already had a clue where she might've gone.

* * *

Jessica pushed the door open and strode inside Lex's study.

He was sitting by his desk and, on seeing her, he smiled, standing up and making his way to her.

"Something happened?" he asked, acting as though he was examining her face thoroughly.

"Yes, something did happen," she told him and before he realized what she was about to do she slapped him across the face. "How dare you?!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play innocent with me! Who else could've done something like that?! Sending a red head to the farm, so she would seduce Clark?! Do you really think that low of him?!"

"Jessica…"

"No, Lex! Don't try to convince me that it wasn't you! Who else?! Do you expect me to believe that a complete stranger would just go inside our house and make a move on my boyfriend?!"

"Your house?" Lex asked.

Jessica just shook her head.

"Just… stop it. Tell me why you did it. Are you so desperate for somebody in your life? Well, let me explain that this is _not _the way you make people your friends!"

"I did it for you own good!" he suddenly raised his voice.

For a moment there she was looking at him, not understanding a thing. "WHAT?!" she finally asked.

"Clark is a teenager! Do you really expect he'll be faithful to you?! That he'll eventually marry you and you'll be living happily ever after?! On the farm?! You deserve so much better!"

She really wanted to slap him again.

"Clark would never do anything to hurt me. He _loves me_!" That was the first time she told that to somebody with so much conviction and feeling in her voice. And that made her realize something else.

"He loves you?" Lex suddenly laughed. "He loves you like he loved Lana? Don't you remember how he ran off to Metropolis? Leaving her? Leaving his parents?!"

"Jess, it's not worth it!" they suddenly heard Clark's voice behind them. "Just… please, wait for me in the hall."

Jessica didn't want to stay and talk to Lex anymore anyway, so she listened.

"Oh, and the mighty hero comes to the rescue once again!" Lex yelled, spreading his arms. "Are you afraid I would hurt her? I'm not the villain here, Clark."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Believe me, some day the time when she leaves you will come and you know what? She'll go straight to me. She'll understand I've been right all along. And she will be mine. How would that make you feel Clark? Her lips on mine? My hands ravishing her naked body. That supple breast. My cock inside of her, fucking her…"

"STOP!" Clark roared, assaulted by images and memories that Lex had no idea or recollection of.

"Oh, aren't we getting insecure now? I've already tasted some of it, you know. I felt her…" He stopped as Clark's fist met his face.

It took all of Clark's self-control not to blow Lex's head off through that punch. Fortunately, he managed to hit him like he was a human, not superpowered alien.

Then he went to the hall. There was no sign of Jessica.

He speeded to the mansion parking, but her car was gone.

* * *

"Jessica?!" Clark came back to the farm, but she wasn't there. The barn, then.

He finally found her standing in the loft, looking through the opened window.

"Jessica, are you ok?" Clark asked. He was scared that somehow it'd all taken a toll on her. The little things were usually gathering together until they were shaped into one big problem.

"Yes, I was just…" she turned to look at his face, "I was just thinking… and I realized something, Clark." She came closer to him and took his hands.

"What is it?" he asked, looking her in the eye.

"I realized that nothing will break us apart. Not Lex, not anyone. He might try, but are stronger together. Nothing will break us," she repeated with feeling.

"Why?" Clark asked again, his voice hoarse like he knew what was coming.

"Because I love you, too, Clark," she said and smiled to him.

He was watching her face, in awe.

"Say it again," he pleaded.

"I love you," she repeated, smiling wider.

"I love you, too. I love you so much… You're the love of my life," he told her with affection and went down on her, kissing her hard with passion.

She reciprocated. She finally told him that she loved him. Now she could give him as much of her love as he'd been giving her. Her heart could burst with it without her feeling guilty that she just took and not gave back.

His hands were roaming over her body, taking her clothes off and kissing her lips, her face, her neck.

When he laid her down on the couch he was still fully clothed when she was completely naked.

"Clark…" she complained as she pulled on his shirt.

He grinned at her and helped her to get his shirt and pants off of him and finally, he was hovering naked above her. Her hands already stroking his huge hard cock.

"Say it again…" he asked her.

"I love you," she repeated.

"Again." He sucked on her nipple.

"I love you," she said again, arching her back.

His fingers were now rubbing her clit, checking if she was wet.

"Again…"

"I love you…"

His cock was entering her. Clark's body completing hers.

"Again…"

"I love you…"

He started fucking her, moving fast in and out of her, kept asking her to repeat those sweet words and she did so.

"I love you… love… love… love… Clark… love… you..." she was moaning as he was pounding into her.

She raised her legs and hooked them around his waist. He went even deeper, all the way, to the hilt. They both groaning loudly at the sensations shooting through them.

"Only you, Clark…" she was telling him now, "only you… forever…"

"Yes, yes, my love, yours…"

"I love _you_, only _you_…" she said and then, she thought harder, what was difficult when he was giving her so much pleasure, "I love the way you look at me," she found herself saying, "I love the way you touch me. I love how you kiss me. I love how you care about me. I love how big you are. I love how you fuck me. I love how good you feel inside me. I love all of you, _everything. _"The orgasm came and hit her so hard she nearly passed out. Clark came in the same time, on hearing the last word, on hearing her saying she loved everything of him.

"I love you. It's only been you. You're the one and always will be," he told her, remaining in her. Her arms hugging him tightly. His face buried in her hair. Both breaking heavily, both covered in perspiration.

As they were busy with themselves they didn't notice Lex standing on the stairs.

He'd come to apologize, to beg her for forgiveness. Maybe even to beg Clark. He'd been desperate. He's need Jessica in his life. He knew he wouldn't change for her, but he'd been willing to play along. Be patient. Only then he'd heard her telling Clark that she loved him and what came later was even worse.

Lex saw them on the couch, but didn't stay to watch the show, he descended to lower steps, just listening.

He'd thought maybe he would be able to befriend them both again, maybe later betray Clark and take the girl.

Now he knew it was all futile. He was disgusted and hard. He should've been the one fucking Jessica right now! Not Clark! He!

And add to that he'd just heard her praising Clark, praising his qualities, the way he made her feel, his huge cock… Lex was just seething.

Then he just turned around and came back to his car. He needed to do something with that erection he was suffering from.

"You're my world now, Clark Kent," Jessica said after a while. "No one else will ever make me feel this way but you."

He heaved himself up from her, supporting on his elbows as he didn't want to tire her with his weight. "I love you so much and you are my world, too," he assured her. "Jessica… marry me," he said completely out of the blue.

She was watching his face in silence, completely stunned.

"Are you… serious?" she had to make sure. Her heart beating so fast she was afraid it would stop eventually.

"Of course. I want you to be my wife. More than anything," he assured her, his eyes so intense, so in love again.

It was familiar to her, only now she could reciprocate. Maybe for the outside world they were just a pair of pathetic saps in love, but they existed for each other, they were giving each other sense.

"Yes, Clark Kent, I will marry you," she said with a smile.

His lips immediately crashed against her, kissing so passionately they could bruise. And he hardened all the way while still being in her.

"God… I love those powers of yours…" she moaned and rolled her hips in order to gain some friction.

"What d'ya say for a new position?" he suggested and she found herself straddling him in less than a second.

"Like it very much," she voiced her appreciation and began moving over him, kissing his lips and rolling her hips back and forth, bringing them both to release.

* * *

"Mercer, I need you," Lex said over the phone as he was heading back to his mansion.

When he made his way to the study and seated himself by his desk, almost immediately a red head walked in.

"I'm sorry about what happened at the farm. I was sure it would work and it just… didn't. I don't understand. Why would I have a problem in seducing a man?" she asked.

"You are not the problem," Lex told her. "Clark Kent is in love. He doesn't see anyone else but Jessica Hamby. We can only hope for it to change in the future."

"So, do you have a plan?"

"I'll think of something," Lex told her. "Now… I need a relief. Strip, please."

She took her clothes off without question and then walked over to him, completely naked.

His eyes were roaming over her body hungrily as she was just standing, hovering over him. His hands covered her breast and massaged it skillfully. "Suck it," he gave her a command.

She smiled to him and got to her knees, undoing his fly and freeing his very hard and very twitching cock. Then she dove in, taking him deep in her throat.

She had amazing skills, Lex thought, but as her face disappeared under the cascade of her hair he kept imagining a different woman in Tess's place.

"Enough," he said in his usual cold voice. He was close and he needed to come in different place. "Stand up, lie on the desk."

She listened. As always. Maybe she liked him having all that power over her, maybe she had issues reaching back her childhood.

Lex was pretty sure it was both. She thought she was an orphan after all.

He stood up, his clothes still on when she was completely naked. Just another way of showing who had the power here.

He entered her fast and hard, started fucking right away, not giving her a rest, not showing any mercy.

Funny that she liked to be call Mercy sometimes. It was her nickname. So unfit for a Luthor.

As he kept fucking her he wondered what she would think if she knew that they actually shared the same father.

He groaned, brought to a climax by all those dirty thoughts. That was the only way he could have some satisfying pleasure those days. By doing something forbidden. If he couldn't have what he wanted he had to vent his frustration in a different way.

As he released himself inside Tess, he thought that if he couldn't have Jessica, then no one else would_. Ever._

* * *

"Clark, where are you taking me?" Jessica asked in surprise as they entered the Kawatche caves.

"I want to show you something. The only place that is a part of Krypton, here on Earth."

"You're taking me to the fortress?" she wanted to be sure.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, reaching his right hand to her when he put the key into the slut with his left.

"With my life," she assured him and took the offered hand.

There was bright, illuminating light and they found themselves in the ice palace.

"Wow… this is… this may be one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen…" she gasped while looking around. "Why isn't it slippery?" she asked when looking down at the ice floor.

"It's made of crystals. It looks like ice, but in fact it's not," Clark explained.

"Really amazing," she said.

"I took you here to make it official," Clark's voice coming from behind her.

She turned and saw he was holding something in his fisted hand.

"Make what official?"

He crashed whatever it was and then showed it to her.

It was a gem. Looked like diamond, but she was sure that when Clark couldn't actually afford one, what he was holding was worth thousands more on this Earth. It was made out of Krypton's crystal. It was out of space.

Then Clark used his heat vision to glue it to a platinum band and… he knelt.

"Jessica Hamby, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" he asked.

Her breath was taken away.

"I've already told you. Yes, Clark Kent, I will," she finally uttered.

He just smiled to her. And god, she loved him smiling.

And then the ring was on her finger, fitting perfectly.

They were engaged.

* * *

**A/N **I hope you're not too shocked with Lex. Or angry with me? I just wanted to make it darker. So, what do you think? What is it that Lex came up with?


	11. Part 4 - Storm

**A/N ****warning **Character death, I'm sorry. But that person just didn't fit into my planned story.

* * *

**Part 4 Storm**

**Chapter 1**

"Is this true?!" Jessica strode into the Daily Planet, then walked straight to Chloe's bullpen. She was petrified. "Lionel Luthor is really dead?!" she exclaimed when she finally reached her and Clark. "Did Lex do this?" she asked while lowering her voice. The emotional turmoil and distress she was in now was a little too much to handle. She knew Lex was capable of evil, but to murder his own father?

No one told her anything, but the looks on their faces were enough of an answer for her.

"Oh my… oh my god…" Jessica squealed and covered her mouth with her hands. "You can't be serious!"

"We don't know for sure, but right now Jimmy's working on the picture he's taken accidentally. If he manage to fix it, we'll have Lex pushing Lionel out of the window," Chloe notified.

"How… why…?" Jessica started, but couldn't finish. She burst into tears.

Clark got to her and put his arms around her.

"It's ok, it'll be alright, I promise. We'll get him."

"Nothing's alright!" she sobbed into his chest. "He killed his _own father! _What happened to him?! How _this _can be alright?! How a person can do something like that?!"

"Total absence of love," Chloe said, her voice cold, "some say it's a definition of evil."

"Have we given up on him too soon?" Jess asked, pulling away from Clark. "Have we? Is this our fault?"

"No, Jess. It's not. It's Lionel's. Lex just did what he was taught. Follow through with the evil tradition of killing one's parents."

"Clark," Chloe said, "Lionel came to see me right before he died. He gave me something. A key and…"

The door opened and Lex walked inside.

"Well, well… who we've got in here. Last time I checked you two weren't on the Daily Planet's pay roll," he directed to Clark and Jessica. "Guests visit aren't allowed here during work hours."

"And last time _I _checked…" Chloe started.

"I would be careful if I were you, Miss Sullivan."

When had he switched from Chloe to Miss Sullivan?

"Lex, what are you doing here?" Clark asked.

"I just bought this place," Lex answered nonchalantly and raised his hands. "The Daily Planet now belongs to LuthorCorp."

"What…?" Chloe just stood there, baffled. "You didn't… you can't just…"

"But I can," he said and made his way to her. "You see, the previous owner wanted a well deserved retirement… Would you mind?" He turned to Clark and Jessica.

"Go, I'll be fine," Chloe told them.

"We'll wait outside," Clark agreed, eyeing Lex warningly. He would stay away, but make sure Chloe was safe. He would also have to listen to their conversation.

As he and Jessica stood in the hall, Chloe and Lex inside, talking, Clark cursed.

"What is it?" Jess asked apprehensively.

"He found the key Lionel left there. Damn it!... And he just fired Chloe."

"Fired?!" Jessica sputtered. "Well, I can't imagine her still wanting to work here with Lex as the owner anyway. He can control the paper now! He will never allow for articles that put him in dark light!"

"He'll corrupt the best newspaper in the country," Clark agreed, then his focus shifted.

"What is it?" Jessica asked.

"Someone needs my help. I have to go, but…"

"Go," she encouraged him. "I'll be fine. Lex won't hurt us. There are guards everywhere here."

"Ok, but if something happens… scream, I will hear you."

"Ok, go!"

Clark was gone and in the same moment the door opened and Chloe was just thrown out of there.

"I will dig up every dirt there's on you and I will publish it! I will bring you down!" she was screaming to Lex as she was being escorted outside. Lex was just looking after her, smirking. Then he turned to Jessica who was just about to leave.

"You know, I wonder…" she heard him talking to her. "What is it? Is it his cock?"

Jessica wanted to just leave, but Lex's question shocked her.

"Excuse me?" she asked him acidly.

"Something must keep you at Clark's side. You really love him? Really?" Lex raised his eyebrows. "Or he's just big? You haven't been with me, you know. Maybe then you would…"

"If you'd ever known me at all, Lex," she started, "you wouldn't question my feelings for Clark now. I am not that shallow," she hissed and wanted to leave now, but then she thought and added. "Besides, I doubt that you would be able to beat him if you took a ruler." After having said that she finally left, her tempo quick, but she didn't run, that would be a defeat for her. She just kept the brisk stride, wanting to catch up with Chloe.

* * *

"Lionel tried to warn me about something!" Clark said as he was pacing in his living room. He couldn't just sit down. He had to keep moving.

"I think that Lex might be a danger not only to you, Jessica," Chloe said, "but also to you, Clark. You only tried to protect her, but what about yourself?"

"Lex doesn't know the truth about me."

"Yes, but when he was split he figured it out pretty quickly. And, after all, Lionel did warm me about him. He said that you, Clark, are the Traveler and that there's a weapon that can be used against you. What if it's locked under that key?"

"How would Lex even know where to look?" Clark asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he found his father's journal or something? The most important thing is that we can't underestimate him. He is a real threat. Right now."

"Kill his father for a key?!" Jessica exclaimed and hid her face in her hands. "I'm sorry, but… it's just so… improbable. So… this is not happening. This is all a bad dream."

"I'm sorry," Clark's voice softened and he finally sat down, right next to her. He lifted his arm and put it around her. "I won't let him hurt me or anyone else. "

"You can't know what he's planning… Maybe," she suddenly came up with, "I could go to him… tell him I was mistaken about you, Clark, and… then he would tell me…"

"No," Clark said fast and sharp. "I'm sorry, but I won't put you in danger like that," he added. "Do you realize what would happen if you went to Lex now? You would find yourself in his bed, Jessica, and that is something that I would never be able to recover from."

"But… maybe…"

"He's right," Chloe supported Clark. "We have to figure out something else."

"I'll call Oliver. After all he said I can ask him for a favor." Clark heaved himself up from the couch and walked over to the phone.

"Maybe Oliver could help me with gathering info about Lex," Chloe wondered, "I _need _to bring him down."

Her phone rang and she picked it up immediately on seeing Jimmy's name on the screen.

"Jimmy? What do you have?"

"I'm sorry, Chlo… I saw it. I saw Lex murdering his father, but then… someone knocked me down and when I came to the whole hard drive was crashed."

"Damn it!" Chloe cursed. "Are you alright, Jimmy?" she asked with care a moment later.

"Yeah, I think so… sorry."

"It wasn't your fault. I'm just glad you're fine. I need to go, call you later." She hung up. "So… we don't have the proof. Luthor outran us once again."

"Don't worry, Chloe. Some day he'll be late and then, we'll put him where he belongs. Behind bars," Jessica said with feeling.

"And what happened to you?" Chloe asked in surprise.

"I realized he's a real threat. He can hurt the man I love and right now my personal feelings don't matter. I treated Lex as friend, I still believed he could be saved, but now…" Jess shook her head. "The man I once new and liked is gone. It's time to bring him down." She stood up. "How can I help?"

Clark appeared again. "Ollie's on his way."

"Good. It's time for war." Chloe also raised from her seat.

* * *

"I'm watching Lex's movements and he's already visited a bank in Zurich to make a withdrawal…" Oliver was sitting on the farm, informing Clark of what he'd found out, "next, he took a plane to Quebec. I think you need to go check it up. Only you can make it there on time. Lex is up to something and we can't let him find out what you really are, Clark…"

"That's all?" Jessica asked, looking at Chloe's laptop screen. "Pretty much…"

"It's everything I have on the Luthors," the blonde confirmed.

Suddenly, a message popped up.

_I have evidences against Luthor. Meet me in The Talon in fifteen minutes._

Jessica and Chloe looked at each other.

"What do you think?" Jess asked.

"Never miss an opportunity when it presents itself," Chloe answered, shut down her laptop and stood up, taking it along with her coat.

"So you just gonna head off?" Jess asked.

"What do you expect me to do? I'm a journalist and Lex Luthor just took over my newspaper thus taking away my life dream. I need to fight back. I will get him behind bars and that will free us all of the Luthors. And the Daily Planet won't be corrupted anymore."

"Ok," Jessica agreed and also stood up.

"What are you doing?"

"Going with you."

"Jess…"

"What? I can take care of myself just like you can."

"Ok, just hurry…"

"Shouldn't we tell them first?" Jessica pointed in the direction of the living room.

"So they would stop us? I don't think so! Let's go!"

* * *

As Clark took off to Montreal, Oliver was still working by his laptop. His sources were discreetly tailing Lex and his people. If anyone in the world could follow Lex Luthor's "army" without being detected it was his own father or Oliver Queen. As Lionel was dead now, Oliver was the last one. He didn't even feel sorry for the old bastard. After all, Lionel murdered his parents, therefore, making him an orphan. Sometimes Ollie wondered if his life would've still looked like that if he'd had them. Maybe he wouldn't have been partying so much in the past? Maybe he would've come to his senses earlier? Well, there was no point crying over spilled milk. The important thing was that the island Oliver had been stranded on had changed him. He was a different man now and if somebody from the outside still saw him as a playboy it was only a good disguise for the Green Arrow.

"Oh, fuck!" Oliver stopped brooding over his past as he saw the update on his screen. He stood up and got to the kitchen. "Chloe?! Jessica?!" Where were they? "Oh fuck! FUCK!"

* * *

"How come that person wants to meet you in a building owned by Lex?" Jessica asked as they stepped into the Talon.

Chloe just shrugged. "The coffee shop is closed and you know, it's always the darkest under the candlestick," Chloe replied. "Besides, Lex doesn't go here anymore. I guess he'll just let it turn into a ruin."

"Because he has too much money to actually bother with selling?" Jess asked sarcastically.

"Or not enough time as he's after us and Clark… hello?!" Chloe called. "Is someone in here? I'm Chloe Sullivan!"

There was no answer.

"Maybe he chickened out?" Jessica suggested. "Or it was just a prank?"

"Oh, come on! Prank? Really?" Chloe asked her. "A good reporter trusts their guts and I'm telling you. That person really wanted us here!"

"Us?" Jessica raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, me. What's the diff," Chloe huffed.

"Maybe if they don't show up we can at least benefit from the cappuccino machine?" Jessica suggested while getting to the counter. "They haven't cut off the electricity yet? Have they?"

"I think it was paid in advance for the whole year," Chloe informed.

"Oh, of course. Why would a Luthor bother with doing it every month as we do, just common people."

"Shh…" Chloe stilled, listening to something. "I think there's someone upstairs."

"Chloe, I don't think we should…"

"It's alright. I have this." She took a taser out of her bag.

"Ok," Jess sighed. "If I can't stop you, I'm going with you."

"No, they can get scared when they see I'm not alone and then my story's gone. Just stay here. If something goes wrong, call Clark. He'll be here in no time."

Chloe disappeared upstairs.

Jessica shot the coffee maker another look and shrugged. What the hell? She could use some cappuccino.

There was some rustling coming from the back door.

"Hello? Is someone out there?" she asked, feeling a cold shiver running down her spine…

And then the building exploded.

* * *

Lex could feel his presence behind him and he smirked as he was lowering the crystal in its place.

"Stop!" he heard him yelling.

He just smirked again and this time he turned to face him.

"So it was you all along," Lex said, making his way to him, watching as his body was gradually becoming weaker and weaker. "You were my friend, yet you were lying to me all this time!"

"I… I wasn't… I was… protecting…" Clark even had difficulties with speaking as the powers were being drained from him. The fortress itself shook and started crumbling.

"Protecting?" Lex repeated ironically. "From whom? ME?!" He crouched by Clark's side and grabbed the lapels of his jacket. "I wouldn't have betrayed you! We could've been so great together!"

"That is… that's the problem, isn't… it, Lex?" Clark said. "You want to… rule this earth. Me, I… I want to protect…"

"Oh, don't give me that crap. Protect the Earth? No matter how hard you try, you will never be able to save everybody. What did I say to you once? You'll only end up with a messiah complex and lots of regrets. You didn't save your father, did you?" Lex inflicted the verbal blow, yet it stung ten times more them one in the face would.

Clark could only look at him in pain.

"I wish I could've… saved _you_, Lex," he just said.

"Oh, are you so sure about that?" Lex asked him, looking at him disdainfully. "Are you?" he repeated. "After what I've just done? I took what you loved most away from you. I took the love of your life," he emphasized.

Clark had no strength left to speak, so he just frown inquiringly at Lex.

Lex smirked again and said, "She is dead, Clark. Jessica is dead."

It was like a knife into his heart. Then it was like it shattered into million pieces and he could feel every single one of them rupturing his insides. The pain was too strong. It wasn't physical, but Clark would prefer the latter over the distress and agony he felt now.

"No…" he said, his face contorted. "No… you didn't touch her…"

"Oh, I didn't have to touch her. If that's any comfort… she probably didn't feel anything as she blew up."

"NO!" Clark roared, couldn't listen to that. "NOOO!"

"Oh, yes. Yes, Clark, sheIS DEAD!"

"Why?" came another question.

"Why?" Lex repeated, mocking Clark. "If I couldn't have her, no one else would. You aren't so unbreakable now, hah? When you're separated!"

"How did you…?" Clark frowned, pushing through the pain, trying to remember the moment she had said that to him. Was it possible that Lex had witnessed the whole thing? "What kind… of a… sick bastard are you?!"

"I am not. I am finally whom I supposed to be. I can finally see. This is me, Clark. This is what I was destined to become. All I had to do was to embrace it, accept it and all the pain and anguish of my existence… just gone!"

"That pain was… making you human!"

"If I have to feel like that in order to be human I prefer not to."

Clark stopped struggling. Stopped trying to get to his feet. Stopped doing anything. He was just lying there, waiting for death to come.

After all he had nothing else to live for.

He'd failed them all. His fathers, both biological and adopted. The love of his life. He'd even failed Lana as she could've survived the meteor shower if he'd been there for her.

He wanted to die. He needed the agony to end.

The fortress collapsed.

There was only darkness.

* * *

**A/N **So, what do you think? Who is really dead? What will happen later?

**And if you go to my profile you can get the link to see another video: Part 4 Storm**


	12. Part 5 - Lane - chap 1

**Part 5 Lane**

**Chapter 1**

The door opened and she walked inside. Her high heels emitting sharp knocking sounds while in contact with the concrete floor. Her dark auburn hair seemed almost black as there were no windows in the depository.

She finally made her way to the guy standing behind the improvised counter. He looked at her, his eyes opening widely, smile appearing on his face immediately.

"Lois Lane," the woman introduced herself, "I came to pick up Chloe Sullivan's staff. We talked over the phone."

"Oh, sure, I remember your voice," the guy said, still smiling. "Let me just see some ID."

"Of course," she said, trying to sound professional. She fished the ID from her bag and showed it to him.

"Ok, just a sec," he said and turned around. "It must be somewhere here…" There were shelves stretched on the wall behind him. "The most recent are here, then when no one claims them, they're moved to the archives… Terry Jones… Patricia Mallarick… Jessica Hamby… oh, yeah, Chloe Sullivan."

Lois's eyes yet focused on the previous one. It was all the personal belongings left from the explosion, although that particular box was almost empty as there was probably just a destroyed cell phone in. Still, she felt nostalgic, she felt… regret, ache, pain.

"I'm sorry, miss Lane, but I can't give you this one," the man's voice stirred her out of her reverie. "Only your cousin's stuff."

"It's ok," Lois blinked a few times and looked back at him. "Thank you. That's all I need." She took the offered box. Inside she would find what was left from Chloe's laptop. Hopefully, it would be enough.

As the man handed her the box, he caught a glimpse of her ring finger.

"Must be a lucky guy," he remarked.

Lois also gazed upon her engagement ring.

"Yes, he is," she said, forcing a smile on her face. She could only hope it seemed genuine. Then she finally walked away. "Thank you. Have a good day."

She released a breath of relief as she finally exited the building and got into the dark car with tilted windows that was parked nearby.

As she closed the door the man behind the wheel asked, "Got it, Jess?"

"Lois," she corrected him. "I'm Lois now, Oliver."

"Yeah, so… got it, Lois?" he repeated the question.

"Yes," she replied with a heavy sign.

She stared at the box on her laps, unable to open it. If she did there would be no coming back. She would be really dead. Obliterated. Blown apart. Gone.

All left would be just that destroyed laptop.

* * *

_Few Weeks Earlier_

There was some rustling.

"Hello? Is someone out there?" she asked, feeling a cold shiver running down her spine.

"Jess!" Oliver Queen disguised as Green Arrow ran inside and just swept her off her feet, throwing her over his shoulder and running out of there.

"Ollie… what are you doing?!" she screamed at him, not understanding a thing.

"There's a bomb!" she just heard in reply.

It was too late. They were already outside.

"But…" she started, trying to tell him that Chloe was still in there. Her words never made it out of her mouth as the Talon exploded and she was thrown in the air, then hit the ground.

Oliver was lying on her, trying to cover her body with his as much as he could. Trying to protect her from the blast, to save her.

She felt the heat coming off the burning building like the flames were very close. She could barely hear anything as the blast deafened her. There was some strange subdued sounds like a sirens coming. Help. But too late. They'd probably taken off as they heard the explosion.

She felt Oliver heaving her from the ground and carrying somewhere again.

"No…" she protested, hitting his back with her fists, "no, you don't understand…"

"I have to take you out of here."

"Chloe!" she finally screamed. "Chloe's still in there! CHLOEEEE!" she roared now as she realized that her friend wasn't anymore. Chloe must be dead. She couldn't have survived that explosion, not when she'd been in the apartment upstairs.

Oliver stopped like the truth hit and leveled him. He froze.

Jessica slowly managed to get off of him and stood shakily on the ground. Then she slowly turned around.

Hands flung to her mouth as she took in that sight of the building or, what was left of it. The Talon was completely destroyed. Obliterated. Maybe the cellar survived, but there was no upstairs. No apartment.

"Oh God…" She felt sick, she wanted to throw up. She couldn't take it. "Chloe… Chloe…" She was shaking, barely managing to keep her knees from buckling under her.

She'd never been close to Chloe, but that last few weeks seemed like they might've been getting somewhere. Chloe was a wonderful person, she loved Clark and yet, she supported his relationship with Jessica.

"Jess…" Ollie finally spoke, "I am so sorry… whatever it's worth… there was no way I could've got to the apartment and back before the explosion. Even if I'd known I couldn't have saved her."

Jessica could only shake and cry.

"We have to go," Oliver put his hand on her shoulder. "That was Lex's doing. He wanted you dead. I just don't understand why Chloe."

"But she was the one who received the message of some source telling her to meet at the Talon. I came along, because… I wanted to."

"I have Lex followed. He can have you followed as well. Maybe Chloe was just a casualty. A way to get to you. I'm sorry…"

"But… he wanted me… dead?" Jessica turned to Oliver. "Why?"

"Because he couldn't have you? Because he wanted to hurt Clark? Pick your answer."

"Where's Clark? Why did you come? If Clark was here…" he could've saved them both, she thought.

"Clark went after him." Oliver pulled on her arm. "We have to go _now_!"

* * *

"What the fuck do you mean he's gone?!" Oliver was yelling at one of the men that he'd brought from Star City. "A person can't just disappear from the face of the Earth!"

"Ollie, I think you should take a siesta and then…" one of the guys, the youngest, started but stopped talking on seeing the murderous look on Oliver's face.

"Bart, stay out of it!... Victor, you have to find him! You're the only person capable of it!"

"He's not exactly a human…"

"So why can't you locate Luthor as well? They both went to Arctic and then… there were both gone! How the fuck can you explain this?!"

Jessica started sobbing again. She couldn't help it. It was just too much.

When she'd got home it'd been already invaded by Oliver's friends and even if they'd seemed nice they'd still been strangers to her. She'd been grieving and she'd wanted nothing more to just sink into the arms of her fiancé. Only he'd been gone, too.

And no one knew where Clark actually was.

At the sound of her crying the guys stopped arguing.

"I'm sorry, Jessica," Oliver sighed and walked over to her, took the seat next to her. "I know it's been the hardest for you. The man you love is gone, because of the other one you thought you could trust in the past. He tried to murder you and killed your friend instead. I get it. I really do. But we're really trying, Jess. You need to be strong. You can't lose your faith. Clark is not dead, if he was we would find his body. The fact that he's gone is actually good news, that means he's still out there. Alive."

"Then why didn't he call? Why didn't he come back home? Even without his powers… it's been a week, Ollie."

"I don't know. I'm sorry, I don't have all the answers. Maybe Luthor has him? I just… don't know."

"Hey, gorgeous, why do you think we're here, hah?" the smaller guy, Bart, walked over to her. "To find your boyfriend! And in the meantime I can keep you company. You won't even notice he's gone!"

Jessica smiled. Bart had a specific sense of humor, but she liked it.

"You see? Everything's going to be alright!"

"That's actually a good point," Victor spoke.

"What is?" Ollie asked him.

"Luthor… Tess Mercer is now in charge of LuthorCrop. I believe she was Lex's right hand and… probably something more, but that is not confirmed. The important part is that she's dedicated to him and he trusts her. I say we look into what she'd doing. Maybe she has Clark. Maybe she also has Lex. There's no Ice Fortress in the place you described, Jessica, so if it'd collapsed it must've injured whoever was inside."

"Ah, you boy can't handle woman's feelings," they heard a voice coming from the door.

They all looked in that direction, seeing a tall woman dressed like… Jessica thought a hooker was a proper name, but she was sure there was a reason behind that outfit. She was blond and very pretty.

"Dinah!" Ollie called her name and got to her, kissing her.

Jessica could just watch them, feeling even worse. At least they were together. Save.

"Hey," there was a guy coming in after Dinah. "Got here as fast as I could. Di gave me a ride." He made his way to Jessica. "Hi, I'm AC."

"Jess."

"So, Jess… my boys here have no tact as I can see," Dinah turned to her. "What do you say we go upstairs and have some girl time?"

"Yeah… why not…"

* * *

"I say we can't tell the world she's alive," Dinah advised when they assembled in the living room the next morning.

"I agree," Oliver said. "Lex is still out there. If there's no body, there's no death."

"Well, he could've died," Jessica started.

"I was believed to be dead for three years," Oliver told her. "Those years I'd spent on a deserted island, waiting for the rescue. I don't believe Lex is dead. He is a survivor, he's always been."

"So what?" Jessica asked. "I'm dead now? I can't walk out of the house? I can't help you find Clark? That's what you're trying to tell me? That I can't do anything until Lex's dead?"

"It's either that or…" Dinah started, her voice trailing off. She looked at the team and they all nodded.

"What is it?" Jessica asked, not understanding a thing. "I want to know! What's your plan?!"

"Your funeral is tomorrow," Dinah told her. That was true. Just as Chloe's. "Jessica Hamby is dead. The only way out of this situation is to give you some new identity."

"New… what?!" Jessica asked, thinking that it was crazy at first, but then… as she thought more… "Actually, that's a brilliant idea," she admitted."

"This way Lex still thinks you're dead. We'll all attend that funeral tomorrow," Oliver decided. "And we look like we were mourning our friends."

"We need to change your look," Dinah said, "so Luthor wouldn't be able to tell it's you. Nothing drastic. We just need to dye your hair. What d'yo say for blond?"

"No offence, Dinah, but I don't think it would suit me. I'm naturally pale and with blond I wouldn't look good. I need color."

"Black?"

"Too dark," Bart said in the same time Jessica threw, "Too radical."

"Dark auburn?" Dinah tried the third time.

"Ok… I think I can get used to that one," Jessica agreed reluctantly.

"But the hair color will just be a minor detail," Dinah went on. "The most important is your behavior, your movements. You need to create a whole new person. I say the easiest way to do that is to change your clothes and you just play the opposite you are."

"Meaning?"

"Instead of casual we will give you some elegant, like you were a business woman. You will have to wear heels, skirts, blouses and blazers. Your manners have to be distinguished."

"Gee, but it's only in front of strangers, right? Because I don't think I can pull it off for long…"

"Sure. Strangers and everyone connected to LuthorCorp," Ollie confirmed. "Only we need to give you the new identity until tomorrow."

"Why?" Jessica asked in surprise.

"Because I… ok, please, don't freak out, but you have to attend your own funeral and you need to pose as Chloe's cousin."

"Wait… what?" She didn't understand any of it.

"Let me explain it to you," he started, "I think that Chloe's death wasn't an accident."

"Well, we all know that…"

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean that… Lex wanted her dead as much as you."

"Why? Chloe didn't… wait a minute…" Jessica finally realized. "She did tell him that she would do anything to bring him down when he fired her. And she did have a lot on him on her laptop."

"Precisely."

"But that still doesn't explain why I need to become her cousin."

"All personal remainings from the explosion were stashed. The relatives can take them, but Chloe had none. This is where you come into the picture."

"What do you need of her? Her laptop? I'm sure it got destroyed."

"I can salvage something from the hard drive," Victor said. "I can create miracles with technology."

"Yeah… I know…" she admitted, still not quite adjusted to the fact he was half-metal. Clark was an alien, so she could get used to Victor being some kind of modern terminator after all.

"Ok, I'm off shopping," Dinah stood up. "Dark auburn and new clothes. Right away!" She took Oliver's keys and walked out of the house.

"Nice of you to ask for permission to take my jaguar," Oliver said to himself.

If Jessica wasn't so depressed she would even laugh.

"You need to come up with a new name," Victor told her.

"New name? Oh… that's tough."

"Tough? It's awesome!" Bart said enthusiastically. "Just think about it! You could name yourself any way you want! Didn't you used to hate your name? I'm not saying I don't like it, I personally think Jessica is a great name, but… ya know! And you could call yourself Gorgeous!"

"Bart, shout up!" Oliver got angry with him. "This isn't funny."

"Humor is the only free medication for pain," Bart answered him back.

"Even if, this is not the time for jokes. Jessica, I would really like to give you some time, but in this case…"

"What about Sun?" Bart suggested. "You look like one and Clark takes his power from it, so… it would be poetic."

Jessica finally smiled.

"You see, Ollie? She's only smiling to me!" Bart said with satisfaction.

"What about Flora?" AC suggested. "It would be very…"

"…green name?" Victor asked. "Come on, buddy! We all know you love to be ecologic, but…"

"No, I actually got one, thanks," Jessica spoke.

"Well, let's hear it," Oliver encourage.

"Lois Lane," she said slowly.

"Well, I like it. Why this one?"

"Lois is my middle name and Lane is my mother's maiden name, so this way I can still be… well, me."

"Ok, no problem. You're Lois Lane from now."

* * *

The next morning Jessica couldn't feel more surreal. She was wearing a suit and heels and she felt very uncomfortable. She liked dressing up nice for Clark, but it never involved something so official. Her hair was now in the color of dark auburn. She still needed to get used to that one, too.

She was standing a little further away from the coffins, among her new friends. She was pretending to be Chloe's cousin and she was supposed to mourn for her. Only her eyes didn't want to leave her own coffin, the one that supposedly contained the body of Jessica Hamby. The girl of light red hair. The girl with a bright smile. The girl that had fallen in love with an alien and thought she would be happy with him.

She still thought so, but she had to find him first. She'd never suspected she would lose him for so long. She'd never suspected she might never see him again.

She'd changed. Got to know the real world. And it was brutal. She didn't know how she was supposed to live in it. She had no idea how to go on and on without Clark. She missed him too much. Her heart was bleeding for him.

And there it was. She started sobbing.

And it wasn't for the dead. It was for her.

She felt embarrassed that she cried over herself when there were so many deaths around. So many friends and family passing away.

But how could she not to? That was her official funeral. And there were only few people there. Her uncle didn't even bother to show.

That hurt.

She could see the red head of Tess Mercer in the distance. Was she there to check if she was really dead? Did she get her confirmation? Or did she recognize her?

But Tess didn't even look straight at her and that meant whatever Diana had done to her appearance, it was working.

As she was leaving the cemetery she felt like she left there a part of herself that she might never get back. Like she stopped feeling.

There was only one way to become Jessica again, one way to feel happy. To feel _something, _anything that would assure her she was still alive.

She needed _him._

* * *

**A/B **Surprised/ not? Liked/ not? Do you think she'll find Clark soon?


	13. Part 5 - Lane - chap 2

**A/N **THANK YOU so much for reviews! Love you, guys!

* * *

**Lane**

**Chapter 2**

They kept looking, but it was still unsuccessful. There was sign of Clark.

All those days, then weeks without him took a great toll on Jess, or rather Lois now. She was smiling very rarely and when she did, she was doing it forcefully while her eyes remained sad. She felt like she lost a part of herself. Like she had phantom pain what happened to people that lost one of their limbs. Hers were still intact, but the loss of Clark made her feel that way.

Hope was the only thing that kept her alive. Hope that he might be somewhere out there. Oliver was right, if there was no body they was no proof that Clark died. She even thought that maybe the fortress took him somewhere, maybe back to the space, but for what? Krypton was destroyed. There was nothing out there for Clark anymore.

Oliver had purchased a beacon in Metropolis and it became they headquarters. They called it Watchtower. Victor was the one behind the computers as no one was better at it than him. It was a save place, accessible only for them. A save haven.

Only it didn't feel like home. Nothing did anymore. Not to Lois.

As she didn't know what to do with her time, she decided to continue with Chloe's work. Victor managed to retreat most of the data she'd had on Luthors and Lois starred analyzing it, trying to make some sense out of it all, trying to find something that would help her convict Lex. Lex was thought to be dead, but it didn't mean the things he'd done should go unspoken. Lois wanted to expose what Lex had done to the world.

After a while she started publishing her stories on the Internet. To her astonishment she got quite a lot of comments and was gaining her own supporters.

And that was the moment when she remembered Chloe's remark. She could even hear her voice in her head.

Chloe had told her she could be a journalist.

And she would. She couldn't figured out what to do with her life, so maybe that could be her calling? After all, she couldn't just let it go. She felt it inside her, something that was pushing her to write, to expose all those secrets, to dig for evidence.

"I think if I can get a job as a real journalist, someday I might be able to prove that Lex killed his father," she told Oliver with enthusiasm in her voice.

"Well… you do know that you're still in hiding, do you?"

"What for you gave me that new identity if not for going out there and living?" she asked, getting angry with him. "I can do this! They already know me on the Net as Lois Lane. My name is already known."

"Yes, but they didn't see your face…"

"Oliver, I think she can do this. She's ready," Diana stood up for Lois. "Tess Mercer didn't recognize her on the funeral and there was no one going after Jess. I think she deserves a shot. At the Planet."

"Wait… what?!" Lois raised her voice in surprise. "The Planet? I don't think they would hire me, besides… LuthorCorp still owns it even if Lex is dead, right?"

"Wake up!" Bart appeared in the tower, apparently heard their conversation. "They sold it like a month ago!"

"Really?" That surprised Lois.

"She wants to be a journalist but doesn't know the basics," Bart shook his head. "But you'll get there, gorgeous. I believe in you!"

"Ok, but they still won't give me the job. I'm not Chloe. I'm just starting and…"

"Of course they will!" Oliver said, finally convinced. "What? Ok, I admit being skeptical here, but you haven't been that exited about anything since…" his voice trailed off as he didn't want to say it out loud. "And we need somebody in there, digging into LuthorCorp. I don't trust Tess Mercer. After all, she was Lex's puppet, always doing the dirty work for him."

Lois had already told Oliver about Tess's feeble attempt in seducing Clark.

"No, Oliver, they will not give me the job. I have no experience!" Lois protested.

"But you do want it, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, I do. That gives me some purpose, reason to go on when…"

"Listen, a lot of employees resigned from their jobs when Luthor owned it, that is why they sold it. Now Perry White is the new editor in chief. I can easily persuade him to give you the job. I think he would do it without that anyway, because they really need more reporters."

"Perry White?!" Lois gaped. "But he knows me! He saw me here in Smallville! He wanted to make an interview with me and Lana. I even asked Lex to run him out of town."

"How many times he saw you?" Oliver asked.

"Eh… one?"

"So he won't recognize you! When was that?"

"Right after I moved here. Three years ago. He was very drunk then and… oh God!" she realized.

"What is it?" Bart asked, clearly interested in her reaction. "Come on! What is it?!"

"Why do you have to be so curious?" they heard Dinah sighing from her position on the sofa nearby. "I swear, that kid is so annoying!"

"Hey! I'm not a kid!"

"Ok, never mind," Oliver shut them down, clearly angry with them. "Jess… I mean, Lois, what is it?"

"Perry thought Clark had superpowers, but Clark managed to persuade him that it was just a hallucination induced by the alcohol…" Lois said slowly and laughed, but then, her expression turned into a rather painful one.

"I'm sorry," Oliver said quietly, "Jess, we haven't given up on him. I promise you I will not stop looking for him until I find him."

"I don't know what I would've done without you guys," she sobbed. Couldn't stop herself.

Oliver didn't know what to do, so finally he just put his arms around her, giving her some comfort.

* * *

It was exactly Lois's eleventh day in the Daily Planet.

In the very first she'd bumped into Jimmy Olsen and had a brief moment of panic. Fortunately, Jimmy had never really talked to her, he'd been just dating Chloe, so she was save. He couldn't really know who she was. He was sad, though, so sad that Lois felt sorry for him. She knew it was about Chloe's death.

She'd managed to write two articles so far and though Perry had been critical, they'd eventually made it up to the print. Now she was working on her third one and was pretty sure this time Perry would be satisfied with it when her cell rang.

"Lois Lane," she answered the call without even looking at the screen.

"Jess…" it was Oliver's voice and it didn't sound normal. It was exited, but not entirely happy.

"Ollie… what happened?" she asked, holding her breath, but already sensing what that might be about.

"We found him."

Her heart rate fastened up, her mind got fuzzy.

They found him. They found… Clark. _Her _Clark.

"Where?!" she yelled to her phone.

"Meet us in the Tower, but hurry. We have to take off as soon as possible. He's being held in one of LuthorCorp's top secret facilities."

Lois just dropped everything and ran out of the building. She could deal with Perry's rage later.

* * *

"I'm here! I'm here!" She screamed, breathing heavily as she ran into the Watchtower, which wasn't exactly easy while wearing heels. "Where is he?! Is he OK?!"

"Jess, please, calm down," Oliver came over to her in his Green Arrow outfit. "We don't know anything specific yet. We only located Clark. Tess Mercer was visiting the facility awfully often lately and we have reasons to believe they'd been experimenting on him in there."

"Oh, god!" Lois covered her mouth with her hands. "But he's… alive, right?"

"As far as we know, yes. But the strange thing is that he didn't run, didn't break himself out of there."

"They must be keeping him near kryptonite! God!" It was too painful for Lois. She know what that rocks could do to her fiancé and exposing him to them for nearly three months… "Is Lex in there, too? It doesn't make any sense if Clark just happened to be there."

"It does if Tess got to Arctic before us and took him. Maybe she even have Lex, but we didn't manage to locate him."

"Ok! Let me just jump into different clothes and we go!" Lois yelled and ran to change.

* * *

"Oh, no… Please, stop! Stop! I swear I'm only human! I have no powers! STOP!" Clark started screaming when they hooked him up to another machine. "PLEASE!"

He was beyond broken now. He'd been in that facility for almost three months. Sometimes he wished they would just kill him already. He had nothing to live for anyway. But he knew they wouldn't. They would just keep hurting him, keep probing. And Clark couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take the physical and the psychical pain. It was all too much when combined. And there was also that hatred inside. Hatred towards Lex. He never really let himself to hate anybody, until now. That man had taken _everything _from him. Although he was officially gone, Clark believed he might still be somewhere out there, waiting for the right moment to strike.

He closed his eyes, knowing that screaming wouldn't help him. It never did. He would have to just live through it again. Through that constant tortures day after day. They kept digging no matter what he said to them. They still thought there was some trigger that activated his powers. He knew there wasn't. They were just… gone. He was human. Just human…

Suddenly, as the man was about to push the right button on the machine, the alarm in the building was set off.

"What the…?" he asked, turning around and glancing at his partner.

"Someone must've broken in," he replied. "We have to check it up."

"Yeah. And secure the lab when we leave."

Clark could just watch them walk away, going through the glass door and then closing it, typing the right code into a device. Now no one would be able to enter or leave.

Clark wanted the physical pain to stop, he wanted to be free, but on the other hand he didn't know what to do later on, how to move on without… He couldn't even think about her name. It was too much. He was pretty sure his friends were the one to break in, meaning Oliver and some help. But he didn't want them after all…

* * *

While searching through the facility Oliver came across a strange room. He thought that maybe they kept Clark in there? Maybe it was darkened because they'd figured out that Clark's powers came from the sun?

He pushed the door, but it didn't open.

"Vic, how long before the security system is down?" he asked.

"Just a few… alright, you should be able to get in, Arrow," he heard the voice of his friend in his ear.

He kicked the door open and walked inside.

As he did so, there was a huge screen coming to life on the wall.

Oliver could just stand there, staring at it as it hypnotized him.

* * *

Lois was running down the corridor, frantically looking into every room and lab she was passing by. She was afraid of the state she might find Clark in, but in the same time she wanted to see him so badly. To finally touch him and tell him everything would be alright. That they would make it. That she never gave up on him and never would.

She looked into another and was just about to move on when… she stilled, turned her head again to look once more.

There he was. Clark.

She didn't feel her legs, couldn't move for a few seconds, but then the alarm stopped and that deafening silence woke her up.

"Clark…" she just whispered and pushed the door open. Victor must've done his job well, because she walked inside with no problems.

"My God…" Her face crumbled as she was slowly walking towards the chair Clark was sitting in. Droplets of sweat, mixed with blood on him, his face contorted, eyes closed. There were electrodes stuck to his forehead, connected to a machine nearby.

Tears appeared in Lois's eyes as she took in that image, then she quietly said his name, "Clark?" it was like a whisper. He probably didn't even hear it. His powers obviously gone. Had they taken them? Had Lex done it in the fortress? "Clark?" she asked, a little bit louder. "Clark, honey," she sobbed and reached her hand to his cheek, finally placing it there. "Clark?"

There was a silent moan escaping his lips and then he leaned into her touch.

"Jess…" he said, his voice hoarse.

"Yes, Clark. I'm here. Please, open your eyes, we have to get you out!"

Finally he listened, looked at her and then blinked a few times.

"I'm so sorry," he said with tears in his eyes.

Her heart ached for him. She wanted nothing more than just to hold him tight, but she wasn't sure if he was in any pain. She could cause him more while hugging him.

"I'm sorry I didn't protect you from him," Clark finished.

"What?" Lois frowned. "What are you talking about? Clark, I'm alive. I'm really here. You're not dreaming or hallucinating."

"What…?" he asked, his face frowning. "How… what? It's all real?"

"Yes, it is," she reassured him, sniffing a little and then she raised her hand. "See?" The engagement ring he'd given her on her finger. "I'm here. I'm alive. I love you and I'm still going to marry you. Now you believe?"

"Jessica?" His eyes opened widely as he looked at her closer.

"I came here with Oliver and his team. You missed a lot," she said and she reached to the electrodes on his forehead, gently taking them away.

He tried to heave himself up, but failed.

"What have they done to you?" she asked.

He didn't answer, he just stared at her.

"I know I look different. I'll tell you all about it later. We have to get out NOW!" She put her arms around him and it took all her strength to help him out, but finally, they were both standing.

"My powers are gone," he informed her.

"I can see that. Did they do it?"

"No… it was Lex… and they can't believe I'm just… human…" he said and looked her in the eye from up close. "Jessica…" His voice growing tender. He really wanted to just hold her now, to kiss her, to make sure she was really there. That it really wasn't a hallucination. But why would she have a different hair color in a hallucination? It must be real.

"Let's go…" she said, doing her best to hold him although she was weak.

They slowly made their way out of the lab.

"Ok, I think… Jess, I think… I'm feeling a little bit better," he said when propping himself against a cold wall to give her some time to recover.

"Stop calling me, Jess. I had to change my name. It's Lois. Lois Lane now," she informed him quickly.

He looked at her with frowned forehead and she just shook her head. "Later," she told him, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the exit. "I'll explain later. Just… remember the name."

"Wait…" Clark stopped them when they reached the end of the corridor. Then it went left to the stair case as Lois remembered. "I hear something… stay here…"

"Clark, you don't have any powers!" she hissed at him, but it was too late. He was gone.

She followed.

Just in time to see Clark standing at the top of the stairs and Oliver at the bottom. Only he was just shooting an arrow.

"Oliver! Don't!" Lois screamed, but it was too late.

The arrow shot right through Clark's chest, breaking the window behind him and disappearing outside.

"CLARK!" she roared and got to him in no time to hold him when he was collapsing. This way his head was now on her laps. "Oh, God… Clark… Clark… no… please…" she sobbed and she didn't know what to do. Putting her hand to his wound wouldn't do any good as the arrow pierced him through.

"Oh God!" she heard Oliver's terrified scream.

"Ollie, what the fuck?!" Dinah got to him.

"I… I don't know…" he begun, "The last thing I remember is going to some dark room… I thought Clark would be there, but then… there was this screen coming to life and… nothing, just blank."

"It must've been some kind of a mind control shit, you idiot!" Dinah punched him.

"How should I know? You wouldn't walk inside?... Clark!" Oliver got to him and Lois. "God, I'm so sorry… I don't know what…" There was so much guilt and pain in his voice at the moment that Lois couldn't be angry at him.

"Clark…" she moaned his name again through her tears.

His body was twitching on her laps, his face in pain, but his eyes locked with hers.

"Clark, don't leave me! Please, not now! Now when I just found you!"

He looked at her like was seeing her for the very last time, conveying so much love and devotion in that gaze that it kept breaking her heart over and over again. She knew what he wanted to tell her. He was glad she was alive. That she survived. He loved her so much.

"We need help here, Vic!" Oliver roared.

"Doing everything I can!" he heard his friend's response in his ear.

Clark's hand jerked and then he managed to lift it up to cover Lois's cheek with it. She closed her eyes in agony. Could only feel his touch.

"Clark, I love you so much. You're my life. Please, hold on. Don't leave me," she kept telling him.

Then she bent down and kissed him.

"I love you," she heard him saying as his lips moved against her. He kissed her back, but then… his lips got slack, his hand dropped from her cheek, hit the cold floor lifelessly.

"NOOOO! CLARK! DON'T LEAVE ME! NO!" she started screaming, not even caring that they were still in the facility and they would be found. Maybe even killed. "CLARK!"

Suddenly there was a black man standing next to them as he appeared out of nowhere.

"Jones?" Oliver asked, eyeing the Martian.

Clark's body was suddenly taken and the guy flew out of the window…

Lois just sat there, stopped screaming as her voice was stuck in her throat. She could only look after the stranger in shock.

"What… what…" finally, her voice came back. "He took him! He just… CLARK!"

"Jessica!" Oliver called her sharply.

"Stupid!" they heard Dinah's voice from behind them. "Don't call her that when we're out in the public, you idiot! I told you to always call her Lois and this way you wouldn't make mistakes!"

"No! Let me go!" Lois screamed as Oliver helped her to stand up and started pulling in the opposite direction, towards the exit. "Clark's gone! He's gone! He took him! We have to…"

Oliver had to put his arms around her from the back and use his strength to restrain her.

"Listen to me," he hissed into her ear, "that guys is a Martian. I know him. If he took Clark away, I'm sure it's to help him. Maybe he'll get him his powers back. Do you understand?"

Lois stilled in his arms, stopped struggling.

It was all too much. Finding Clark. Watching him die. Then grieving to finally… finding a new hope.

She just nodded, still sobbing.

"Let's go!" Oliver finally took her out of there.

"And I wondered why no one came to attack us when they heard the screaming," Diana said when they passed by the guards lying on the floor, unconscious.

"My speed comes in handy," Bart said, very proud of himself. "So now, we can expect the Boyscout back in no time, right?"

* * *

**A/N **Liked it? What do you expect happening now?; P

You can go to my profile to see **Part 5 Lane** video


	14. Part 6 - After the Storm - chap 1

**A/N **Uh! thank you ALL so much for your reviews!

* * *

**Part 6 After the Storm**

**Chapter 1**

The was a flash of light and then a thunder. It was very close as it could be heard almost immediately followed.

Lois was standing in the kitchen, looking through the window, watching the sky but not really seeing it.

It'd been four hours. Four long hours. Probably the longest in her entire life.

And he still wasn't there.

Oliver had filled her in, told her who Jones was. Had assured her that Clark would be alright, that he would come back in full strength.

Only he didn't.

She couldn't do anything. She couldn't call Perry, her boss, to apologize for bailing from work. She couldn't focus on her article. All she could do was just wait. Even if she had to spend the whole eternity by this window, she would still wait.

Another lightening. Another thunder.

The raindrops were rambling against the window.

She didn't even remembered the last time a storm was so powerful. Did it have something to do with Clark? With him getting his powers back? But how? He got them from the sun… and what that Martian was really doing? And how come there were men on Mars?!

She froze, her eyes widely opened as she heard the front door opening.

She couldn't move for a moment, but then she just turned and speeded towards the hall.

She stopped when she saw who just came inside.

It was _him._

He just closed the door and looked at her. His body powerful as she remembered. He wasn't weak anymore. But was he real?

He was all wet from the rain, but she didn't care.

"Clark?!" she cried out loud and ran to him. "Thank God!"

His arms spread open and then closed around her as he took her into his embrace.

It was him. He was alive. He was real. She could feel his heart beating. His hold on her was familiar, his scent too. She loved it. She loved it all. He was there. He was himself.

"Clark," she moaned quietly and clung to him even tighter. Her own clothes soaking wet when coming in touch with his.

"I'm here," he said, his voice husky. "I'm here and I'll never leave. I promise. Oliver… told me about Chloe." Now she could sense pain in his voice.

"I'm so sorry," she just said, still holding onto him.

"It's not your fault."

She finally pulled away to look at him. To look into his dear blue eyes.

He cupped her face and brought her closer, crashed his lips against her.

There was another lightening heard as she flung her arms around his neck, bringing him closer, joining her tongue with his, feeling his whole wet body against her.

He hardened almost immediately and they both groaned at the bone deep need they both felt.

"I missed you so much," she said when he was kissing her throat.

Here was alleviation of pain. Here was her salvation.

Clark had enough of death. He had enough of losing people close to him. When she was there, she made him forget. And he needed her right now like he needed air.

She pulled on his shirt and he raised his hands, so she could take it off. Then she immediately kissed his neck and begun trailing a path with her lips down his chest, grazing the place when he'd been shot with an arrow before. Now it was perfectly healed like there was never anything there. She sucked on his nipples what made him groan again and then she got to her knees, teasing his belly button with her tongue as she was undoing his pants.

She freed his cock and took him in her mouth, sucked on it hard like she was thirsty on a desert.

"God… Jessica… Jess…" Clark moaned deep in his throat. His right hand found itself on her head, keeping her there, in place.

She kept sucking, then she grazed her teeth against the skin on his cock. She knew it wouldn't hurt him. Just the opposite. Clark exclaimed something incomprehensible.

And then, just like that, so fast, he shot out into her mouth, climaxing.

She wasn't even near satisfied. She'd been living in celibacy for three months because he was gone. And she wanted no one else. Not ever.

Before she managed to stand up and kiss him again, he surprised her while getting to his knees as well. Then he ripped the blouse off of her, the bra came with. He took her jeans off which required standing up from her and again, ripped her panties at the seam.

Next thing she knew he was hooking her leg over his shoulder and lapping on her core.

"Oh… GOD! CLARK!" She titled her head backwards, couldn't stand the intense pleasure. She was quickly building up to her own climax as she felt Clark's tongue inside her, then his teeth grazing gently on her clit and then he was sucking on her again. "YES! YES! CLARK!" She grabbed his head as reached her peak. "I love you…" she said as the spasms subsided.

"I love you, too. So much…" he said, took her into his arms and speeded with her to his bedroom.

She was lying in a bed now and he was hovering over her.

"I missed you so much," she whispered while grabbing his face and pulling him into another passionate kiss.

"I need to…" he started, his voice strained. "I need to be inside you," he finally finished.

She could feel his already hard cock against her belly, so she spread her legs.

Somehow the intensity of that reunion reminded her of their very first time. He'd come back from the death back then, too. The only difference was that they hadn't realized how strong and real their feelings for each other actually were.

It'd happened about five months ago, yet it felt like it'd been ages.

He grabbed his cock and positioned himself, then slid inside while moaning again.

She opened her mouth widely at the intensity of their joining. It'd been three whole months, so she wasn't used to his size anymore. She felt too stretched, like it was all too much for her.

"Are you ok?" he asked, recognizing the look on her face. "Am I hurting you?" he got worried.

She was agonizingly tight around him.

"No," she denied. "You're not. It's just… I feel you so intensely… it's too much. I'm going to explode."

"Well, that's the point in what we're doing, isn't it?" he asked, grinning at her.

"I like it… I liked to feel you so much…" she said. "And I expect you to use your powers as you got them back and fuck me to exhaustion."

"Say no more, my love." And he pushed into her, precisely hitting her G spot.

Her mouth flung open as the pleasure intensified fast. She would get there in a matter of seconds. She was so thirsty for him. She wanted him so much.

He gave her few more pushes and she came around him, screaming just in sync with another lightening struck that could be heard and seen outside the window.

"Yes, my love," she heard Clark's whisper as he sucked on her, oversensitive now, nipples.

"Oh Clark… Clark…" was all she could utter. She was too far gone. Focused on feeling all of him. Him moving deep inside her. His familiar toned arms around her. His legs. Perfectly shaped buttocks she was now scratching with her fingernails, but leaving no marks as he couldn't be hurt.

Their eyes locked and he started fucking her harder.

They came together this time. Her vision going all white from the ecstasy.

"Let's get married," she heard him saying when they lain, arms around each other, bodies still joined.

"What?" she asked, taken aback.

"I love you. I want you and nothing else. Why not get married already? I don't want to spend another second without you."

"Of course we'll get married," she agreed, smiling against his lips as he was kissing her again.

He flipped them over, so she was on top now. His cock hardening again all the way inside her.

And they went again…

And again… and again…

And that was how Clark fulfilled his promise to fuck her till exhaustion.

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, he was there. Holding her. She could feel his face so close to her, buried in her hair. His arms around her as he'd been holding her whole night. Or the at least that small fracture of the night they'd been actually sleeping.

She barely opened her eyes when she felt his lips on hers, his tongue licking a path along her bottom lip.

"Mhhmmmm…" she moaned in her throat at the sensations and snuggled into him even more. His skin was hot, maybe it was even too hot as they were lying so closely together, but she didn't mind.

"Good morning," Clark said, now nibbling on her earlobe.

"I'm so sore…" she said.

"Sorry…"

"Don't be. It's the pleasurable kind of sore. After all… how many times it was?" she asked him, finally opening her eyes all the way and looking at his gorgeous face.

"I don't know. I lost my count by the fifth," he said.

"Oh, I wonder what to do to be able to have it more often… I mean such nights…" she said.

"Jessica, I don't want it to take a toll on your health or body," he said, his voice growing serious. He stopped kissing various spots on her skin and raised his head to look her in the eye. "I love you too much to ever be able to hurt you."

"But the thing is you didn't hurt me… actually… god, I'm wet. And you're hard. Again," she said on feeling him against her thigh.

"Sorry, couldn't help it. But we don't have to do anything about that."

"Are you kidding? I wonder when I'll actually stop wanting you."

"You're sore," he protested when she pushed him on his back and straddled him.

"Doesn't matter." And she lowered herself into his erection. "Ah…" Her face contorted.

"I told you," he said through gritted teeth, trying not to buck up into her.

But she started riding him nevertheless, bringing them both to a satisfying morning climax.

When she collapsed into his arms again, her stomach rumbled loudly.

"Where was the last time you ate?" Clark asked with care in his voice.

"Yesterday… around lunch?" she thought out loud. "When Ollie called I didn't feel like eating and then, when I was waiting for you… I just couldn't."

"I'm starving myself," he said.

"Can you imagine how many calories I've burnt while having sex with you?" she suddenly asked with enthusiasm in her voice. "You're better than exercising. And more pleasurable."

He laughed and then asked, "What would you like to eat?"

"I would like…" she thought for a moment, "some hot sweet rolls and some coffee… strong one… and maybe some fruit."

"Sweet breakfast it is," he said and was gone. His clothes disappeared from the floor, too.

"Clark?" she asked, but already knew where he went.

He was back within five minutes.

"Sorry, there was a queue. It's lunch time after all."

"Lunch time?!" She glanced at the clock. "Oh…"

"Yeah. Here you go…"

"Breakfast in bed. I love you."

* * *

"I called Ollie and we can get married this weekend. Of course if that's something you still want to do so fast," Clark added as they were walking towards the Smallville cemetery.

"Yes, of course I do!" she said with feeling and squeezed his hand a little bit harder. "Will your mum be there?"

"Yes. She wants to see me after all of this…"

"That is good."

"I know it'll be a small wedding, but I hope it'll be enough for you," he suddenly said and turned to face her. They stopped for a moment.

"Clark, all I want is to just marry you and be with you forever. I don't care about wedding quests. _You are _my family. Besides, our friends will be there. And your mum. You know, she's like a mother to me, too."

Clark draped his arm around her and they moved on again.

"I'm sorry about Chloe. I know it must be hard for you," Lois said when they reached the cemetery and she showed him the right grave.

"It's ok. It wasn't your fault," Clark told her again. "I just… miss her... She died because of me, Jess…"

"Lois," she corrected him immediately, looking around to check if there was anyone around.

"... Lois," he agreed and went on, "and I'm just afraid that at some point, I will be left all alone. I'm afraid you will get hurt eventually, too."

"Hey," she cupped his face and forced him to look at her, "I will not. Lex is gone. He can't hurt us anymore. And now… Jessica Hamby is dead. No one wants to hurt Lois Lane."

Clark looked at the grave right next to Chloe's.

_Jessica Hamby_, it said. Something twisted in his stomach at the sight of it and he pulled Lois closer.

"But now you're writing articles about the Luthors. Oliver didn't think that this may put you in the crossfire again?"

"Lex is gone, Clark. He might never come back. We're save."

"You know, I didn't just call Ollie today," he confessed after a while, knowing that whatever he would say to her about the Luthors she would still go on with her research. "I also called Perry White."

"Why?" Lois wondered.

"To ask him for a job," Clark simply answered. "The last time he was here he told me he owed me one. I decided to ask for a job in the Planet."

"Why? So you can watch over me?" Lois asked. "Clark, you don't have to…"

"Yes, I do want to keep you safe, but I also figured… it's the place when you find out first about all the crimes happening in the city. Well, besides the police, but it's not a place for me. And you're in the Planet, so I'll get to see you more often."

"You will? So you've already got the job?"

"Yes. You're looking at a new recruit of the Daily Planet."

"Don't even think that I will share a byline with you," Lois said, huffing.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Clark chuckled, watching her face.

But then his gaze shifted back to Chloe's grave and he felt grief. He wanted to cry over her. She'd been so young. Her whole life ahead of her and Lex just…

"I will help you find something on LuthorCorp," Clark found himself saying with determination, "and I don't need to be mentioned in the story you'll write."

They strolled on in silence and Lois could feel Clark tensing up. She knew him too well not to recognize the signs that something was bothering him.

"Clark? What is it?" she asked, looking at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play that card with me again. I know you. Spill it. What is it that you're thinking about?"

Clark just sighed heavily.

"You know I love you, right?" He turned to her, stopping.

"Of course. Tell me what's going on." She got worried.

"Those three months of my life when I thought you were dead…" he stopped for a moment as a shadow of pain passed through his face, "that was the worst time in my life. I never want to go through this ever again. I was hurting so much I wanted to die, Jess… Lois. No matter how many people out there needed me, I didn't care. I just wanted the pain to stop. And yet they didn't kill me, they kept me alive and kept…"

"Clark, I am so sorry for that," she said in quiet voice and put her hand to his cheek.

He leaned into it and continued, "I love you and I really want to marry you. After all I just fixed us a wedding, but… are you really sure? There will always be danger around me. Jor-El warned me about it. He warned me that those feelings would be my doom… and I don't care. I really don't, but… I will never be able to live in a world without you in it," he told her honestly. "If something happens to you… I won't deal with it. I won't be able to. Maybe I should let you go in order to save you," he finished. His words were one, but his face was screaming at her not to let him let her go.

"Clark…" she said his name again, this time sounding surprise. "I will never be able to live without you. Your world became mine as mine yours without us even realizing it, can't you see it? There's no alternative. We have to go through our lives together. I finally found my place, a family. I have a job, a purpose. I will continue with Chloe's legacy, I will not let her work go to waste. She sacrificed so much for you, she loved you. She deserves to be honored. For her and for me I will do this, I will keep working in the Planet, I will keep loving you. Actually, I kind of like writing articles, exposing the truth. I think I found my calling. And I have one more thing, the most precious of it all, _you._ I'm the happiest when I'm with you and I don't care how much heartache it will cost me. I will never leave you, Clark Kent."

He just put his arms around her in silence.

"It's us against the world," she added.

"I thought I would just tell you about my worries and let you decide for yourself," he finally said while still holding her.

"And I thank you for that," she told him. "I would hate if you made that decision for me. You may think I'm your greatest weakness, but I'm also your strength."

"That is true," he admitted, stroking her back.

"And we are unbreakable when together. Do never forget that."

"I won't."


	15. Part 6 - After the Storm - chap 2

**After the Storm**

**Chapter 2**

There was a knocking at the door.

"Clark, I have a surprise for ya!" he heard Oliver's voice.

He shot one last glance at himself in the mirror as he was just dressing up for his own wedding.

"Come in!" he yelled and the door opened. "I can't believe it!" he exclaimed when he saw his old friend's reflection. He turned immediately and made his way to them. "Pete! What a surprise!"

"You really thought I'd missed my best buddy's wedding?!" Pete asked and gave him a brotherly hug. "How you've been, man?!"

"Well, you know, the usual… losing powers, dying, saving the world…" Clark answered in a joking way.

"I'm glad that you finally found the right girl. I'm sorry to say that, but I never thought Lana was the one for you. If two people are meant to be it just works out."

"Yeah, I know that now," Clark sighed.

"And… I'm sorry about Chloe. I wasn't at the funeral, but I didn't know she died until recently… that is… so horrible. I remember her as my best friend, my first teenage crush and…" his voice trailed off as he shook his head.

"Yes, I know. Losing her still hurts," Clark admitted. "Oliver, were you the one to bring Pete here?" Clark turned to his other friend that now was standing in the door, abandoned.

"Yeah, I thought it would be a nice wedding gift. Seeing old friend. At least one of them as they're all… kind of gone."

"Yes, Clark, in that explosion… that Jessica girl, she came to Smallville right after I left, right? You told me about her in an e-mail," Pete started.

"Yeah…" Clark admitted carefully.

"Losing her must've hurt, too. I'm sorry, bro… but you have the love of your life right now and that what matters. How did you meet that Lois Lane?"

Clark looked at Ollie, then back at Pete. After all his old friend had never betrayed him, never told anyone his secret.

"Pete… there's something I have to tell you, but you have to promise you will never tell anyone."

"Wow, another one? How many of those secrets you've got, man?" Pete asked, smiling at him.

"Well… the girl who supposedly died along with Chloe…"

"What about her?"

"She _is_ the one. She survived and I'm marrying her today."

"Wait… but… but the funeral…"

"I know. We had… well, Oliver had to hide her as I wasn't there at that time. She was, and probably still is, in great danger coming from Lex. She had to change her identity."

"Wow, that's a conspiracy! But I like it!" Pete said. "And you can trust me. This will never leave my mouth… only, you know man, you have to come up with a story of how you met her, because, believe me, people will be asking."

"I guess I would have to say that she's my coworker. That's how I met her," Clark came up with.

"Plausible, but so… cliché," Oliver voiced his opinion. "You could've been more creative."

"I can't, actually. It has to be cliché. It has to be something simple that people will soon forget. For her own good. She's still in hiding."

"I think it's a good one," Pete agreed. "So... tell me about…"

"Guys, I hate to break the reunion, but it's time. Clark, you have to get married. Can't keep the bride waiting as it should be the other way around," Oliver winked at him.

* * *

"…to love and to cherish…"

"…in sickness and health…"

"…you're my home…"

"…you're my one true love…"

* * *

"So, we did it. We're married," Lois said as she was dancing with Clark. "How it feels?"

"I married Lois Lane… strange thing, because I didn't even know this name until few days back," Clark answered, teasing.

"Well… I hope she'll be better than your previous girlfriend… Is she much different from Jessica?" Lois asked, worry evident in her voice.

"She _is _my Jessica," she got in reply and Clark pulled away a little to look at her. "And I love her with my whole being."

"She loves you, too. Very much." She smiled to him and he leaned down for a kiss.

"I wonder… where would you like to go for our honeymoon?" he asked as he pulled her closer to the previous position and they kept dancing.

"I don't care about the honeymoon. We can't afford a big one anyway."

"Then I have a surprise for you," Clark whispered into her ear, nibbling at her earlobe with his teeth. She shivered.

"I'm listening."

"Oliver let us use his private island for a week. Didn't cost him much and my mum with me had a little input in food and drinks."

"Where is it?" Lois asked.

"Hawaii…" the answer came to her ear, Clark's breath sending jolts of electricity through her.

"How will we get there?"

"Well… I thought we could… just use me as a transportation. I can get us there faster than a plane."

"Uhm… ok, but what about our clothes?"

"You don't need any…" Now she was trembling with need.

"Clark," she said his name in husky voice. "But the staff…"

"Won't be any… I didn't agree on Oliver spending so much on us. I decided it would better if there was no staff. Just us. On a private island. For a week."

Lois licked her lips, but she was so close to Clark's neck that she grazed it, too.

"What about all the people that need you?" she asked, worried.

"There's Watchtower. There's Oliver. And Dinah. And Bart. I can get away for a while," Clark followed with his prepared answer. "Besides, they seem to be more players in the city now. People with skills are being inspired by all the vigilantes and Oliver has a recruitment program ready."

"Ok," Lois finally agreed, "nothing but sex, food, drinks and sleep for... a week. Are you up to it, Superman?" she asked.

Clark pulled away, looked at her.

"Superman?" He raised his eyebrows.

"What? You don't like it? I may keep calling you like that if you're up to the challenge."

"I'm always up to you challenging me." He smiled and kissed her again. They just danced, kissing each other.

Soon, Lois had to break it, because it got too hot and there were people around.

She still didn't quite like the idea they have to have their reception party in a closed restaurant, but it was necessary. No one could know about their marriage. Especially no one from LuthorCorp. They kept it a secret, only the closet friends and family knowing. There wasn't even any announcement in the Daily Planet.

They got back to their huge table as the song ended.

"I finally have the chance to get to know you," Lois heard Pete's voice. "You remember…"

"Yes, you're Pete. Clark's oldest friend," she said with a smile.

Clark had filled her in on the way from the church to the restaurant and Jessica had officially met Pete, but there had been no time for talking back there.

* * *

The following week was a timeless period filled with need and desire. Clark and Lois were only aware of each other, of each other's bodies.

He was inside her for hours in a row, getting hard after a brief respite, changing position and going again, leaving her core only when he needed to leave the bed. They were just a tangle of bodies. Her was hovering above her, then taking her from behind, then sucking on her clit, then pushing her against the wall, then she was the one on top…

She slept through almost half of that week if not more, Clark draining all her strength. And she was beyond sore. But yet she wanted more and more of him.

And as the last day ended and he finally left her inner channel for longer period of time, because they had to dress and get going, she felt empty. Hollow. She needed something inside, she was half a being without him.

"That was the best week of my entire life," Clark told her as they both finally put their clothes on.

"These feel weird on," she complained. "I got used to be naked."

Clark laughed. "Well, I won't let you strut around stark naked. I can't even imagine my jealously and rage at all the men that would gape at you."

"Who knew Clark Kent had a whole other side to him," Lois said and winked at him.

"I think every man would be jealous."

"I mean the whole week we've just spent together. And every time we have sex. You're… you're not the same innocent Clark anymore."

"Does that bother you?" he asked.

"Are you kidding? I love it! I even thought… maybe I wasn't attracted to you the first time we met not only because you were dating my best friend, but because you seemed so… polite, innocent, so plain. Don't get me wrong here, you were and still are devilishly handsome, but you seemed like you were gentle with women."

"So that is why you went for Lex?" he asked, his voice a little bitter. "Bad boys must be wild in bed, is that it?"

"Maybe…" she admitted, "I'm sorry, Clark. Maybe what happened between us the day you came back from the dead was meant to be? Maybe you were supposed to, so we could end up when we ended up. Are you mad at me for saying it all?" she asked him tentatively, bothered look on her face.

"No, of course not," he said, grabbing her shoulders. "I appreciate the honesty. After all, we promised to tell each other absolutely _everything_, didn't we?"

"Yes, I guess we did," she said with a faint smile. "I just don't want to hurt you."

"Well, apparently I am that bad boy in bed after all, so you didn't hurt me. I am what you wanted all this time."

"Yes. And I love you so much for everything. And you know that you are and always will be so much better than Lex with your good heart."

"Who would think? An alien with more humanity inside than an actual human…" Clark said with a heavy sigh.

"Well, just because we are a species called humans doesn't mean every one of us is good," Lois said.

**Part 6 After the Storm video** in my profiles


	16. Part 7 - The Fallen

**Part 7 The Fallen**

Life went on and somehow, everything went back to normal. It always did. It was sad, but in the same time was bringing hope. Hope that the bad times would eventually end, the clouds would be gone, making room for sun.

Lois and Clark were both working in the Daily Planet for Perry White. They discovered that they were a good team. Lois was always good at writing a story, Clark with making sure it would have a happy ending. At least more or less. He was the first one on every crime scene, he was the one helping people. Thanks to him the crime rate in Metropolis was gradually lowering.

People were usually speaking of disguised vigilante, dressed in black, but they never saw his face.

"You know that soon you'll need a name and maybe some costume?" Lois asked one day.

"Costume?" Clark repeated with elevated brows. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm serious," she said and stopped working on her article for a moment. "We need you to get out there. To show yourself. This way you can be something more than just a vigilante in the dark. While dressed up you would be able to help more people without worrying that some of the them recognize you."

"You're worried about me," Clark finally understood, eyeing her face closely. "Lois…" he covered her hand with his, "I will be fine."

"You told me that last time and see where we are now. You were trying so hard to keep me safe that you didn't even see the real danger coming. To _you_," she emphasized.

"I'm sorry, I should've thought…"

"It's ok," she said, taking his hand in hers and stroking it, "but I am the one who waits for you when you suddenly run off into the night. I am the one worrying. I would feel so much safer if you tried to conceal your identity harder."

"Lois, I promise we'll sit down soon and figure it out," he reassured her.

"It doesn't need to be some silly costume if that what you're afraid of," she said. "We can come up with something nice."

"Yeah, I…" his attention suddenly shifted.

"Go, my superhero," she sighed, letting go off his hand. She'd got very adept at reading Clark's expressions and by now knew well which one was telling her that he heard somebody screaming.

He was gone and she just shook her head with a smile. She still couldn't comprehend the fact that Perry White hadn't had Clark fired yet. She always covered for him, telling that he was out, getting the story and then, there was always some story to tell. Maybe Perry pretended he didn't see Clark leaving work so often, because he and Lois wrote the best and most interesting articles. She'd even got her first byline few days ago.

Her cell phone rang and she fished it out of her bag. It was Ollie. And Ollie never called her unless it was something important.

"Yeah?" she picked it up. "Is every…"

"We found him," she just heard in reply.

"You found who?" Lois asked, not really getting what that was about. Clark was alive and well. Then it hit her. "You mean…" her voice trailed off.

"Yeah. You need to get to Watchtower. We'll keep you safe until…"

"Until what?" Lois wanted to know. There was something wrong and she could feel it. Oliver's voice sounded weird.

"Just… get your ass here, Jess."

"My name…" she started and stopped with a huff, because he'd already hang up.

She always got irritated with Clark and Oliver calling her by her real name when no one else was listening. Well, if they kept doing that some day one of them might slip. Besides, if she'd changed her name already, it was her real name now, wasn't it?

She heaved herself from her sit and took her coat.

"Wait… where are you going?" Jimmy asked as she almost bumped into him when she was turning around.

"Oh, sorry, Jimmy… just… working on a story," she sold the same old lie.

"Lois, shouldn't you be…"

"Jimmy, lives are at stake here! I need to go!"

"Can I go with?" he quickly followed. "I can make pictures and…"

"Not now. Really, I… if I have something concrete, I'll call you. Clark needs me now."

"Yeah, right, a story… uhm…" Jimmy murmured under his breath. "I bet they just want to…" he stopped on noticing that one older woman in a bullpen could actually hear him and sent him an outrageous look. "Right…" he just said and walked away.

* * *

Lois walked out of the Planet and directed herself towards the tower. She should be there in about ten minutes. Then she would know more about… Lex. She was sure they found him. And he was a serious threat to Clark as he knew his secret.

"Shit!" Lois cursed. And here she thought they could actually lead a normal life. Not normal "normal", but some of it. Clark had the potential to be the world's greatest hero and she was the lucky girl that got to be with him. Hero's wife. It wasn't easy, sometimes it was damn hard, but she never regretted it.

If Lex tired to destroy their happiness again…

There was car stopping right by her with a screech of tires.

She sniffed danger and speeded up, but it was too late. She already felt somebody's hands on her, a cloth put to her mouth and she lost her consciousness.

* * *

"Where is he?!" Clark burst into the Watchtower. "Where's Lex?!"

"Clark, calm down. I've got him tracked…" Oliver said. "He's in a track. It keeps moving, changing its location every two hours. I have reasons to believe that even Mercer didn't know he was alive. And if he is, he can't be a real threat. There must be something wrong with him, connected to what happened in the Arctic."

"The fortress collapsed on me and him after all," Clark admitted. "So, what do we do?"

"For now? We rescue Jess."

"What did you just say?" Clark looked back at him, his eyes could kill. Gladly, he had enough of restrain inside of him not to burn a hole in Ollie's head.

"Relax, I have it under control as well. She was taken into a car…"

"You mean kidnapped?!" Clark raised his voice in anger. "Oliver!"

"They're taking her to him right now. They're not there yet and I'm sure she wasn't hurt."

"What are you doing?!" Clark couldn't understand it. "Why aren't you rescuing her?! What are you playing, Oliver?!" He got to him, taking the lapels of his jacket in his hands.

"I thought you'd get there faster than me. Now take your hands off me and go save her!" Oliver yelled.

"WHERE?!"

As Queen gave him the location, he was gone.

He didn't understand his so-called friend's behavior. Why would he wait so long? What was his agenda? Why had he let Lex's men kidnap Jessica anyway? Couldn't he see them coming?

He would have to have a long talk with Oliver later. Right now he was focused on only one thing. To save her. As always.

He knew what it meant to lose her and he would never let that happen again.

* * *

Lois opened her eyes and found herself at the back of a car.

"What the…?" she started, bringing her hands to her head as it was pudding widely. "What are you doing?! Where are you taking me?!"

There was a man sitting right next to her and another behind the wheel.

"Sit tight," he just told her, aiming a gun at her.

"Are you taking me to Lex? Is he your boss?" she asked. She was sick of being the damsel in distress. Months of being a journalist had taught her something. She would keep asking questions. Faking her own death had given her courage. She would do her best to survive and come back to Clark and she would have a story with her. For sure.

"If you want to hurt me, you would've done it already," she said again. "Now, where are…"

The car suddenly stopped, tires screeching against the asphalt.

Then the front door was ripped off. She didn't need another clue to know who that was. A huge smile appeared on her face.

"Are you working for a Luthor?!" she asked the man with a gun one more time. Too late though. He was already being thrown into the air. "Damn it, Clark. I just asked him a question!"

"Jess?" Clark stood by the car and looked at her. His face…

"Clark?" she said his name again. "Clark, are you alright?" She didn't get her answer again as she was swept into his arms instead, the air knocked out of her lungs.

"I'm worried sick because you've been kidnapped by Lex's people and you want a story?! Those guys were dangerous, Jess!"

"Lois!" she corrected him. "And I'm fine!"

"Fortunately you are," he said, taking her face in his hands. "I don't want to get through losing you ever again."

"Me neither, but Clark… you're here," she just sighed, didn't know what else to say as she understood him perfectly. She would be worried sick if he was kidnapped, too. "I don't know what happened to me… I… the adrenaline just kicked in and I didn't think. I just wanted to bring Lex down, to get my revenge on him for killing Chloe and I… I wasn't scare for myself. I'm sorry," she suddenly said, realizing it was all true. Why wasn't she scared? She might hate being saved all the time while not being able to do it by herself, but… she wasn't invincible and Lex, after all, wanted her dead.

"It's ok. I'm sorry for yelling at you," Clark just said, hugging her again and stroking her hair.

"Is that…" she started, looking at something far away in the distance. "Could it be…?" she asked.

Clark let her go and turned around, not knowing what she was talking about.

There was a van parked out there.

"Lex's in there," he said and made a step forward.

As he did so, the van suddenly exploded.

All Clark managed to do was to cover Lois with his own body, so she wouldn't be hurt by the blast. Fortunately, it was far enough, so his clothes didn't even scorch.

"What…" Lois couldn't understand as he finally let her go and they both looked in the direction of now burning wreck. "What… how…? Is he…?" She was clearly in shock.

And in the very moment Clark finally understood.

"Oliver," he just said, took her in his arms, then speeded off with her.

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Clark burst back into Watchtower.

Everyone in there turned in his direction.

"I see you saved her, so…" Oliver started.

"Don't give me this crap!" Clark grabbed his lapels again. "You killed Lex! You blew that van up, didn't you?! You knew I wouldn't let you, so you sent me after Jess! Were that really Lex's people or that was also a set up?!"

"Who do you think I am?!" Oliver shouted back and pushed Clark away. "I wouldn't do something like that to Jess! They _were _Lex's people!"

"I don't know who you are anymore," Clark admitted, his voice strangely quiet now. "You just… you just killed a man."

"Yeah, a man who almost destroyed your life. A man who killed your best friend and almost got the woman you love killed, too! She had to take on a new identity to stay alive! And she did it all for you!... A man who stripped you off your powers and left for dead! A man whose people experimented on you!" Oliver was screaming. "Wake up, Clark! You can't save everybody and sometimes something has to be done about it! How many would've died if I hadn't done it? Hah?! How many?! Do you really believe he would've just stopped and let you and Jess go?!"

They were standing there, eyeing each other hostilely.

"You keep saying that you would do anything to protect the woman you love, but… today you would've just lost her all over again. Lex would've got her and killed her. How much would you be ready to sacrifice, so you wouldn't have to take anyone's life, Clark? You should've thanked me that I did it for you!"

"Thank…" Clark repeated, appalled and shook his head. "I didn't do it. Don't make me act like I have to clean my hands from it."

"I never said that. I just did what should have been done. Deal with it," he finished the conversation and turned his back on Clark.

"Oliver…"

"Clark, I think we should go home," Lois got to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

Just now he realized she was crying.

"Jess, I'm so sorry… " he said, not knowing the right words, not even knowing what to do to make her feel better. There was also the danger that she was actually crying over _him_, Lex. Clark had been insecure about that in the past, but now he knew better. If that was the case, it was because Jessica still remembered the good Lex. The one that had been her friend. Clark's, too.

Clark put his arms around her and she snuggled into his chest, sobbing.

"I know, honey," he said, stroking her shoulders "I know… I wish it ended differently, too. I wish he'd been good."

"I just… Oliver's right, Clark," she said. "He is… What he's done Is horrible, but… we have no evidence against Lex. I was trying, trying so hard to find something, _anything_… but there's just nothing. He was so good in covering his tracks. And then… if he was still alive he would never stopped until he would kill us both."

Clark knew what she was saying made sense, but still, he was in a battle with himself. He was taught never to get up on people, never to lose hope, no matter what. And now he realized it didn't apply to everything. He couldn't let his world just crumble around him like that. He had to refuse think that way.

"Let's go home," he agreed and led her out of there.

* * *

"It's finally over," Clark heard Lois saying when they were just lying in bed. It was still early, six o'clock, but whenever she felt distressed the best remedy was to just snuggle up to him in bed.

"What is?" Clark asked, looking down on her face as she was lying with her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"The danger…" she explained. "Lex is gone. Forever. He can't hurt us. I know it's horrible what happened to him. I know his life was so sad and miserable, but… we're free, Clark. We don't have to worry anymore. Sure, there's that Mercer chick, but… she's not even close to the danger Lex was. I'm sorry to say this, because I know how you like to believe in people, but… Oliver was right that he could've hurt us. He would've killed me and laughed at your face. Who knows, maybe he would've even pushed you over the edge."

"I was close to it," Clark admitted reluctantly, "back there, when I thought you were dead."

"I'm sorry, baby," she said and raised herself up, searched for his lips and kissed him gently. "I'm here. I will not leave you."

He kissed her back and as the kisses grew stronger and more passionate, she asked him, "Make love to me, Clark. I need to feel you."

He listened with a silent groan coming from his throat and flipped them over, so he was on top now. He begun kissing her again and caressing her body with his hands to work her up into arousal. It never took him long. She was soon lying naked underneath him, moving wantonly, trying to get some friction while grazing herself against his erection.

She spread her legs as he got rid of the rest of his clothes and slid inside slowly, filling her in, taking in the feeling of her tightly around him.

"I love you," he said to her ear and started pushing.

"I love you, too," she followed with an answer, putting both her arms and legs around his body, wanted to lose herself in him.

* * *

Clark walked into the study in the Luthor mansion and was overcome with sudden nostalgia. Those times he'd come here to see Lex, his friend. And now…

"Did you want to see me?" he asked Tess that was now sitting on Lex's place behind his old desk.

"Yes, I did. I'm glad you made it, Clark," she said and raised from her chair. "I wanted to officially meet you."

"Oh, so you do remember coming on to me and trying to break off my relationship? Or experimenting on me?" he asked sarcastically.

"Oh, let's forget about that minor episodes and start again," she said and reached her hand to him. "What do you say, Clark Kent?"

"I don't know what you're playing, but…"

"Ah, so you want me to cut straight to the chase," she sighed, taking her hand away. "Alright, then. I know who you are."

"What do you mean?" he asked, pretending like he didn't know what she was talking about. He had to. And he had to keep calm. He couldn't have another Luthor knowing what he really was.

"I mean that you have superpowers and that you're not from Kansas. As a matter of fact you're not even from this Earth, are you?"

"I don't know what you're talking…"

"Oh, please!"

"Whatever lies Lex told you…"

"He didn't have to. I figured it out myself. From the data he had on you."

"Lex was a crazy maniac."

"Really?" She raised her eyebrows. "I prefer to believe he was a man with a vision. Such a shame he died."

"I'm sure he used you as he did with everyone else in his life," Clark said.

"Why won't you just tell me?!" Tess called after him when he started off towards the door. "I know you have those powers! I promise not to expose you! I just want to know! I want to help!"

"Help with what?" Clark stopped and turned around.

"I want to be a better person. I want to help you reach your highest potential. I'll be better in this than Lex was, I promise. I won't take you to the lab!"

"Well, did you forget that you've already done it?"

"I'm sorry. It wasn't right. I…"

"Save it, Tess." He walked out of the door.

He couldn't trust her. It didn't surprise her, but disappointed.

In that case she would have to figure out the mystery behind the crystal Lex had all by herself…


	17. Part 8 - Zod - chap 1

**A/N ****Guest **Thank you so much! I'm happy you like my work so much!

* * *

**Part 8 Zod**

**Chapter 1**

She knew she made a mistake after she activated the crystal.

But it was too late.

They came.

And they were there to stay.

If she wanted Clark to reveal to her his powers, she just fed her curiosity, because they showed her. She didn't even have to ask.

Zod was here. On Earth. And she freed him.

And for a while she really didn't care. Zod wanted her and she was there for him, so they slept together. Over and over again. She wanted his power. She craved for such a gift. But she couldn't get it. She was just a mere human. She wondered how Jessica Hamby had been able to accept it when she'd been still alive and with Clark.

Now Tess found out something that changed everything.

She was sitting by her desk, holding the piece of paper in her hands. Her birth record. Just one piece of paper. And so much of painful truth.

She was half a Luthor. She was the daughter of Lionel Luthor.

And she… and Lex…

She couldn't even think. She felt so dirty, so disgusted.

She didn't remember when was the last time she'd cried for so long.

It was too much. How could he do something like that to her?

As it turned out everybody was right, everybody beside her. Lex was really evil. And she'd fallen for his lies and tricks.

She decided to end this. End this misery. It was never too late to change, right? So she would change. She would bring Zod down. She would stop him. She'd already had the access to him through his bed, through pillow talk. She knew his plans. She was ready.

* * *

It was past noon. Lois was long gone, writing her newest article at the Planet and Clark just dropped by the farm to take a quick shower and get changed.

His hands were full of work recently.

Sometimes he wondered if that would ever end.

First it was Lex and then he had to deal with his best friend killing his ex best friend.

He hadn't even managed to get over it when a new threat arrived. Kandorians. Looking for Kal-El.

Clark still couldn't believe that they were Kryptonias with powers just like his out there, that some of them were really evil. He didn't know what to do with them. He was so lost… He stood no chance against the whole army, so he had to outsmart them. And he needed help.

That was why he'd come back to Watchtower. They both with Oliver preferred not to mention Lex again and just move on…

How to defeat them? How to get rid of them?

When he dressed himself up and was ready to head to the Planet, somebody knocked on the door.

When he opened it his day didn't get much better.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in exasperated voice as he saw Tess Mercer standing on his porch.

"Clark, we need to talk."

"I don't think I have time for talking," he said, trying to shut the door in her face.

"It was the crystal I retrieved when Lex died," she said quickly and that prevented him from throwing her away.

"What?!" he just asked. "What did you do?!"

"Nothing! I swear! I just… I just wanted to examine it from up close and… they just appeared out of nowhere! There was that bright light and… suddenly I was surrounded by people. People that had powers."

"Great, Tess! Just great! What now? Do you have any idea how to get rid of them?!" he asked, reluctantly letting her inside.

"No, but I'm willing to help any way possible," she said.

"And I should just believe it?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "You never gave me any reason to trust you. Actually, you did the opposite."

"Clark, I know who your wife is," she said.

"I don't…"

"Don't play stupid again. I know you're married. I found out quite recently while researching you. I believe that you are the mysterious vigilante in black, saving people in Metropolis. You see… it didn't make sense to me that you would just get married to your co-worker, Lois Lane, right after you were freed from that facility, so… I looked closer into that. You can do much about your appearance, but you can't change your face unless you have a plastic surgery. It's her. It's Jessica. I know it."

Clark had enough. Not only he had to protect the world form his alien brothers, now he also had his wife to protect, again. And again it was from somebody connected to the Luthors.

"You won't dare to hurt her!" he raised his voice in rage and suddenly he grabbed Tess's throat and lifted her up.

To his astonishment, she laughed.

"I knew…" she had difficulties with speaking, her own hands squeezing over Clark's on her throat. "I knew… there was… more to you… I wish it… didn't…"

He lowered her down, back to the floor, terrified with what he'd just done.

"I wish…" she coughed, "you just trusted me earlier."

"You can't…" he started again.

"Don't worry. Your wife's identity will remain a secret. I have no reason to reveal her real identity to the world, believe me. Now when Lex is dead she can live in peace. With you."

"Why such change?" Clark asked, still not certain he could trust her with that. If she was a danger to his wife, he would have to leave her. He would do _anything_ to keep Lois safe even if that meant no seeing her ever again. He could go through the agony of leading a life without her if only she stayed alive.

"Because Lex used me like he did you and everyone else. You want a proof that you can rely on me now? Here it is! You know very well I was dedicated to him, hell, I even slept with him, what shouldn't come as a surprise to you," she said and, by the look on Clark's face, she knew it wasn't. "And then he died and I found out I… I'm Lionel Luthor's daughter."

"What did you just say?" Clark asked, completely appalled by the information. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I saw my real birth certificate. I am sure. Lex used me. And he knew about our relations. He was a sick bastard, nothing more. I'm sorry, Clark, that I've been blinded for so long, but here I am. Trying to help you. Wanting to stop Zod as much as you do. He used me, too."

* * *

As much as Tess wanted to help, it didn't change anything. Kandorians were still a threat and Clark couldn't stop there.

And then he decided to visit the Fortress.

It was hard for him to ask Jor-El for help, but he had no other choice. And he wasn't surprised as his biological father presented him with another sacrifice that had to be made.

* * *

Lois came back home that day in a pretty good mood considering everything that was happening around. She just wanted some alone time with her husband. She needed him close that night as she only felt save with him by her side.

"Clark?" she asked him when she finally saw him, just sitting by the kitchen table in the darkness. His hands were idly stroking the edge of the table, the very same that he'd broken off when they'd had sex in the past and then he had to fix it.

"Clark, are you alright?" Lois repeated, coming closer to him.

Finally, she stood right next to him and took his face in her hands. "What happened?" she just asked on seeing the empty, but in the same time painful look in his eyes.

"I went to see Jor-El," he said in a voice that didn't seem to belong to him.

"And?" she asked, taking the seat right next to him. As she lost her hold on his face, she grabbed his hand.

"There's a way to send them away, to another planet where they can repopulate and live in peace," Clark said.

"The Kandorians? But that's wonderful news!"

"Yes, but it means… it means that when I open the portal… _every_ single Kryptonian will be sent sucked into it."

Lois froze, tightening her hold on his hand.

"What are you saying?" she finally squealed silently, feeling her heart breaking.

"That in order to that, I…" Clark stopped, his voice trapped in his throat. "I will have to go with them. And I will never be able to come back."

Jessica covered her mouth with her hands. Her eyes conveying so much pain that Clark wanted to cry.

"No," she shook her head. "No! You will not leave me! I won't survive without you! I've lost so much Clark! I can't lose you, too! I won't let you go!"

"Jessica," and here she thought he finally learnt to call her Lois. But this time was forgivable. She actually wanted him to call her that. She wanted to get back to those times before all the evil things started happening and just be… happy, together. Jessica and Clark. "This is bigger than us," he said, his voice thick, his eyes glassy as he watched her face.

"But… but we were supposed to be unbreakable! We're strong when together!"

"This is what I have to do to save billions of people. Believe me, I don't want to leave you. I will… I will die if I do, but… it's us against sacrificing all the people on this planet. Would you be able to live with yourself if we were still together, but we would have to watch the people around us die? And then, Zod… he could kill you, too. And we would be right when we started. No, in even worse place than that."

She was crying now. Silently praying that it was all just a bad dream she would wake up from soon.

Only it wasn't.

"I promise you, whatever it takes, I will think of a way to stay," Clark told her, taking her face in his hands and looking deep into her eyes. "I love you more than anything and I will try to stay."

"You'd better," she said, "because you'll break my heart if you leave. I love you too much to let you go… and I can't stand the idea of you being with someone else."

"Why would I be?"

"Repopulate the planet? You think I'm stupid? You're Jor-El's son. Of course it will be expected of you to carry on the royal blood," she said bitterly.

"I will not be with anyone else, I promise you. I wouldn't be able to, not ever," he assured her solemnly. "There is and always will be only one woman for me. It's you, Jessica or Lois, the name doesn't matter. It's just _you."_

"When do you have to do this?" she asked.

"As soon as possible."

"Would you…" she stopped, closed her eyes in pain, "make love to me first?" she finished wile meeting his eyes again.

He wasn't able to talk. He just nodded.

In the next second she found herself in their bed as Clark speeded out there with her.

They took it slow, doing everything they could to make it last longer.

First they kissed, pouring all their feelings, yearning and ache into it. She was crying and he could only kiss those tears away.

He didn't enter her right away. As he worked her into arousal he went down on her, sucking her clit, licking her core, pushing his tongue inside her and teasing her until she came.

She was so beautiful when he was giving her ecstasy. She was so responsive. The sounds she uttered… how would he miss them…

His cock was not rock hard, erected so much it hurt. He needed to gain his release, but he wanted to stall so he could spend more time with her.

And he knew there would be no time for a second go.

He entered her and then they were just lying there, arms around each other, lips locked. She wanted him inside indefinitely and he wanted to be nowhere else.

But eventually they needed their release as they were growing desperate. It was more discomfort now than pleasure, so Clark started trusting and Lois started bucking her hips towards him. He suddenly took her legs and gently raised them up until they were hooked over his shoulders. This position letting him in as deep as he could get. They needed it.

Finally, she started contracting around him, reaching one of the best orgasms in her life. She loved it but also hated it. It meant they had less time.

He came, following her quickly.

"I don't want to lose you," she sobbed into his hair as he buried his face in the crook of her neck. "Please, find a way… please…" Her body shook under him in crying spasms.

"I'll do my best," he said in hoarse voice, but knew there was no other choice. Jor-El had told him there wasn't. He never listened to his father and that was the reason he'd given her hope in the first place.

After all, losing it was the most dangerous thing that could happen to a person.

Clark tried to get up, but she tightened her hold on him, both in arms and legs. "No," she pleaded. "Don't."

"I must," he said, his eyes dead like he'd already lost her. It shattered her heart, leaving it a bleeding gaping hole.

Finally got off of her, standing up and putting his clothes back on.

"Clark…" she said his name, crying.

When he was by the door he looked at her one more time, trying to remember the shape of her body, her face, eyes, trying to place the light red hair back, so he could remember her as Jessica. Then he left.

She cried again, hugging his pillow that still smelt of him. How long she had before that scent would disappear?

And then a new thought entered her mind.

"Clark!" she called him, but he was already gone.

She got out of bed and put her clothes on. Then ran to her car.

She would stop him from going or… she would go with him. She would. If it turned out a human couldn't get through the portal maybe if he took a hold on her…


	18. Part 8 - Zod - chap 2

**Zod**

**Chapter 2**

He knew he lost the very moment he climbed up there, to the top of the Daily Planet. He knew there was no way he would be able to avoid his horrible fate.

He would be sucked into the portal and taken. Taken away from the world he knew, from the people he loved and, what was most excruciating, taken from the woman he couldn't imagine his life without.

It was ironic, really. He was an alien and yet, there was no home for him but here, on Earth.

But what could he do…?

Just then, an idea started crystallizing in his head. It happened when Zod rebelled and attacked him with a blue dagger.

Clark couldn't understand what was so special about it until Zod informed him it could kill him much faster than kryptonite, because it… would take away his powers as long as it would remain by his side. Just like the green rock was draining his strength.

There was only one way out of this situation. A perfect one, because it meant sending Zod away and staying himself. There was one catch though. Clark knew it when he closed his own hands over Zod's that were on the dagger and… helped him stab himself.

Zod was so shocked with what Clark had just done that he let go off the dagger, therefore sending Clark over the edge of the roof, down. While not being around blue kryptonite anymore Zod was sucked into the portal and it closed.

Clark was falling. He knew he would not survive this. He knew it was his end. No one knew where he was and even if they did, would they get there on time? Would they even know where to look for him? They would think he was gone forever, in the portal. They would never anticipate that he had fallen from the roof and was slowly dying on the street.

The last image that appeared in his head before he hit the cement ground was her face.

_Jessica._

* * *

She was afraid. Terrified.

It was raining and there was a lightning storm. It could be caused by the portal that had been already opened, but she refused to think about it. She needed to get there to catch him. And she could only pray he would still be there. He _had _to. She would _not _lose him.

She parked near the entrance to the Planet. It was in a prohibited place, but she didn't there. They could take her car away. She didn't give a damn.

As she ran towards the revolving door she grabbed her phone and dialed Clark's number.

Suddenly, she jerked to a stop as she heard the signal. It was Clark's cell. She recognized the ringer and it didn't come from the inside. It came from the outside.

"Clark?" she asked. Her heart was beating so fast she could go to a cardiac arrest.

Slowly, as her legs nearly didn't move at all, she turned around. It was like she could feel something was wrong. She could feel as she'd already lost her husband. But why? Was he still here? Or was it just his cell?

She brought her hands to her mouth, dropping her cell that shattered to pieces on the hard ground.

"CLARK!" she finally found her voice as she noticed the man lying on the street few meters away. She couldn't see him clearly, but she knew it was her husband. "CLARK!" She ran towards him only to stopped abruptly again.

His eyes were closed, body motionless. What worse, there was a dagger illuminating with a blue light, sticking out of his chest.

"Oh my God, Clark," she squealed and got to her knees.

She raised her hands but didn't really know what to do. One of the first things they taught on the first aid course was not to remove any foreign objects from a body, because otherwise there was a danger of bleeding out to death.

Only it wasn't a normal person! It was Clark! He wasn't even from this Earth! And if this knife could hurt him…

"Clark?" Lois asked again and brought her finger to his neck. She couldn't feel any pulse. "Clark, please…" She looked at the dagger again and then, finally reaching a decision, she took it into her hands and pulled it off. Then she threw it as far away from them as she could. It was glowing. It had to be some other kind of kryptonite. The green one could hurt Clark, so what the blue one could do? She could only hope it would not actually kill him.

Nothing.

"Clark, please. I beg you… you've come so far… you're still here… just… please, don't leave me now!" she sobbed as she laid her head on his chest. He was cold. Lifeless.

She was in a nightmare. He could be gone forever and she was left completely alone, in pain.

Suddenly, the body underneath her head raised and fell. Clark started breathing.

"Clark?!" Lois immediately raised her head and then cupped his face. "Clark?! Clark, can you hear me? Please, come back to me!"

His hand twitched.

Suddenly, she realized why he started to waking up.

It was the sun.

It was was raising again or maybe the rain just stopped, making room for the sunlight.

It gave Clark strength, recharging him.

"Clark?" Lois asked once again and finally, he opened his eyes.

She was the first thing he saw and had to blink a few more times to make sure he wasn't dead or dreaming.

"Jessica?" he finally asked, surprise in his voice.

"Yes! You're alive!" She was so happy she started crying again.

When he sat up on the hard ground he could see her face from up close. It almost destroyed him. He'd put her through so much misery that sometimes he was wondering if she wouldn't have been better off.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered and pulled her into his embrace, cradling her in his arms. "I'm sorry for scaring you that I would be gone. I'm sorry for all that pain."

"It's… it's ok," she sobbed, holding onto him frantically. "After all… I wanted you to be honest… with me."

"Lois, what are you doing here?" he asked the obvious question. Why didn't he think of it before?

"I… I wanted to… I was ready to go with you," she said, now shaking with cold. Her clothes were soaked wet and even though the sun was shining brightly again, it was still cold. "I wanted to go with you through the portal."

He stilled on hearing that. He even thought he didn't catch it right.

"Are you serious?" he asked, grabbing her face in his hands and looking her in the eye. "You would come with me to another planet?! When not knowing anything about it?"

"If I was with you, I would," she said. "I would do anything for you and it's hardly a newsflash," she reassured him.

He just closed the distance between their faces and kissed her hungrily.

She was shaking, but now she gained a little bit of heat from him.

Few seconds later Clark reluctantly broke the kiss and helped her to stand up. It was cold, she was freezing and making up in the middle of the street probably wasn't a good idea.

"You need a hot bath," he said and speeded off with her.

They found each other on the farm and Clark ran straight to the bathroom.

He started making a bath for her.

"You just came back from the death… _again_, and you're doing _this_?!" Lois could just stand there, shaking in her wet clothes.

"Well, on the contrary to me you can get cold," Clark said, shrugging. "Get out of those clothes."

"Always happy to comply when you're the one asking," she said. "Clark… wait… what are you doing? Don't put the plug in there, the water isn't hot yet. You have to wait…"

Instead of an answer he just used his heat vision.

"Or… you can do that. Nice, we can save some water and be ecologic. I'm sure AC would love that," she tried to joke as she got rid of her clothes.

She was standing by his side, completely naked now.

"Just so you know I'm not getting there alone. I need some body heat, too," she said.

"I'll be right back," Clark told her and was gone.

She gaped after him, in shock. She couldn't remember the last time he'd left her naked in the middle of the room, not even peaking.

She was mad at him, but got into the bathtub. After all, she was still shaking with cold.

There was a huge sigh coming out of her mouth as the warm liquid surrounded her body and she closed her eyes.

When she opened them Clark was standing in the door.

"Why are you acting like this?" she asked, pain in her voice.

"God, I'm sorry," he sighed and covered his face with his hands, rubbing his eyes. "I was just talking to Oliver over the phone. I needed to tell him the news."

"Alright, but that doesn't give you the right to just… ignore me! I went through hell today, Clark!"

"I know and I am so…"

"Stop apologizing. I knew what I was signing up for when I married you, so just save it. I need your explanation."

"I just…. I can't stop thinking that you'd be much happier without me. If I'd just left you at the very beginning and…"

"…I would've gone to Lex," she finished after him.

"No, when the danger from Lex…" he stopped with another sign.

"Clark, I hate when you're acting like a self-sacrificing hero! I am strong. I can take it."

"But one day…" he started again.

"We can't keep worrying about the future! It will destroy our present! And right now I am here with you and I want to enjoy this moment. Happiness is all about moments. Nothing more. Let me have mine now."

Before she knew he was getting into the tub, stark naked.

She shifted a little, so he could get in and then she settled herself into his arms, her back against his chest.

"I don't deserve you," he said straight into her ear. "You're right. You're so strong and you always stand by me… "

"No, Clark," she denied. "I think _I _don't deserve _you._ I wish I were as good as you are, but…" she stopped for a moment, idly stroking his knee. "I'm trying not to be selfish with you, but… I'm having a hard time with it. You said that billions could've died and all I could think was that I didn't care. I just wanted you to stay with me, I thought, screw them, I want you. It was selfish and I'm ashamed of it… and… I don't want to be a disappointment to you, Clark."

"You're not," he assured her, hugging her more tightly. "I love you. I love who you are and I understand. You think I didn't think that? I'm having the hardest time not to be selfish with you here."

"You seem to fight it pretty well," she huffed.

"You, too. After all, you didn't tell me to stay, you just asked me to _try_. Remember? You aren't weak or selfish."

"But you have to promise me…" she said, her voice growing more serious and she turned her head to be able to look at him. "You have to promise me that you will never ever try to let me go again."

"Oh, honey… I wasn't trying. I was just thinking about 'what-if'. I wouldn't have let you go once I married you."

"Good. In that case… I don't want you to think about 'what-if' anymore and keep annoying me with that self-sacrificing bullshit!"

"Ok." He laughed and his hands suddenly covered her breast, massaging them gently. Her breathing accelerated and she moaned quietly, then started grazing against his growing erection. That was a positive response to his ministrations, so he lowered one hand to her crouch.

The bathtub wasn't particularly big, but somehow they managed to make it work. She turned, so she could face him and kiss him while she put her legs around his waist and lowered herself into his erection.

The small confinement of the tub was enough for them to make love.

When they both came they discovered the water chiller a few degrees. Clark could very easily heat it up again, but they really wanted to go to bed. The day was long enough. And not only that drained them, all those feelings and fears they'd gone through since morning were enough to make them sleep for at least ten hours.

When they got to bed, Clark's arms around Lois, the covers on them, a sudden idea came to her mind. It grew and grew until it became need.

"Clark…" she started, but stopped.

"What is it?" he asked, noticing the hesitation in her voice. "You can tell me anything," he encouraged her and stroked her hair.

"I… Clark…" she shifted, pulled away from him and sat on the bed, keeping the covers over her chest so her naked body wouldn't distract him, "I want to have a child with you," she just blurted out.

* * *

**A/N **go to my profile to get ome last promo : final promos. Don't worry though, this is not the end yet. Still few parts to go!

What do you think about those clips in that promo? What will happen next?


	19. Part 9 - DarknessDawn

**A/N Guest:** Of course you can see the promos! Maybe you looked in the wrong section? You just have to click my nick that is right by the avatar, that says: LanaaLuthor and then you'll find yourself in my profile. Scroll down a little and there you go! Under Becoming there are plenty of links with promos!

**A/N **And I also added there the last (I hope/think so) video – All the Pain – Titanic Theme

* * *

"_I want to have a child with you," she blurted out._

"WHAT?!" Clark exclaimed in utter shock, sitting up as well and looking at her like he wanted to find a proof in her expression that she was actually joking.

"Clark," she said his name, her voice almost a whisper.

He hurt her. He knew it. He did it again. He inflicted pain just when he promised not to do that ever again.

He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about the right words. "Lois, you know I would gladly give you _anything_, but I don't think I can give you this. I wish we could've talked about those things before we got married, but…"

"Clark, I don't want anything else from you," she cut in. "We may not be ready for a child yet, I get it, but… I almost lost you _again_ and I realized I need something. I need a piece of you in case… if something happens to you for real in the future… at least I will have a reason to go with my life. I will have a child. Yours child."

He so did not see that coming. How could he? He supposed it was natural for a woman to think like this. Only he was a male. Not to mention an alien.

"It's not that I don't want this," he reassured her, looking her in the eye. "I would love to have a child with you, but… I can't risk your health. We don't even know if we… you know, can."

"You might be an alien, but your body works just as any hum…"

"It's not that either… Lois, we don't know what my child would do to you. It might have powers like me. I know most of them developed when I was going through puberty, but I was always unusually strong. I can't let a baby, that would grow inside you, hurt you. I can't lose you just as you can't lose me."

"I understand that, Clark. I really do… but…" she sighed. "I'm willing to take that risk. I want a piece of you. Let's have a real family…"

"No," Clark said unyieldingly. "Sorry, but in this case I can't let this happen."

"I could go off my pills, you know…"

"And here I thought our relationship was about trust and no secrets," he noticed, hurt a little.

"It is…" She bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry. You know I would never do something like that without telling you. I just… I just wanted to annoy you. I want to have a child so badly…"

"If you want a family we can always adopt," he suggested, scooting over to her and placing the palm of his hand to her cheek. "I was adopted and I turned out alright."

"Of course I wouldn't mind, but… if I lose you, I want a part of _you_. We can always adopt another child, but let's the first one be…"

"No."

* * *

"Tess, this is not the best time!" Clark snapped at the red head when she caught him as he was walking into the Planet.

He was angry at everything recently. He knew marriage problems applied to every couple, but somehow he thought his relationship with Lois was so perfect they would manage to get through life without them. He was so wrong. It seemed that even an alien was just any common human being when it came to that.

She wanted a child and he got it. But she had to understand he couldn't give her that one particular thing. All she saw was a sweet chubby baby with his eyes, but on the other hand he was being bombarded with the images of her with big belly and bruises all over, not to mention possible bone fractures. Hell, the baby could break her spine if it was really strong! Who knew what a half human, half Kryptonian baby exposed to the sun from the very beginning would be capable of. He would not take that chance. Period.

"It's important!" Tess stood in his way. "Please," she added, a worried look on her face.

Clark sighed. "What is it?" he asked. The fact that he was in a terrible mood didn't mean he had the right to snap at everybody, even if that was the person that had him tortured once. After all, Tess knew Lois's real identity and never said a word.

"I found a lab. LuthorCorp lab I had no idea of and…" she stopped, disgust on her face. "Clark, it's terrible."

"What? Tess, tell me what you saw," he encouraged, now really involved.

"You… you have to see it on your own eyes and… and I need help with destroying it."

"Destroying? What kind of experiments Lex was conducting?!" Clark raised his voice. Suddenly he thought maybe he could use it in an article. There was nothing interesting to write about recently as the crime rate lowered substantially. All thanks to him.

"Just come with me."

"Clark?" they can hear Lois's voice from behind him. "Why aren't you… oh, Tess." She came to a stop as she saw the red head. "What are you doing here?" Lois still couldn't forgive her that she'd tried to seduce Clark and then had him kidnapped and tortured.

"I need Clark's help. He'll be back soon."

"Wait, what?" Lois stopped her while grabbing the sleeve of her coat. "Help with what?"

"Some lab," Clark said quickly. "I'm sorry, I don't have much ti…"

"Save it, Clark," Lois just sighed and shook her head. Then she came back to her bullpen.

"What's with you two? Is it just me or the temperature dropped so much that we could be in the Antarctic right now?" Tess asked while eying Clark with curiosity.

"Eh… we… it's nothing," he sighed.

"Marriage problems?" Tess almost smirked.

"No," Clark denied a little too fast.

"So I see," she said slowly while they walked out of the Planet.

"It's not what you think," Clark told her.

"Oh, really? And what do you think I think?" she just couldn't let it go.

"Tess, drop it."

"Maybe I can help?"

"You can't, alright?!" Clark snapped at her again. "Now, where's that lab? I don't recall us being friends, so let's just cut to the…"

* * *

"Oh… my… god..." Clark finally exhaled as he followed Tess into the mentioned lab.

"Yes, exactly."

"This is… this is… barbarian!" he said as he was looking around, appalled.

The lab was left unused from some time, but the remains were still there. Body parts. In jars. And…

"Is that… Lex?" Clark gasped when he noticed the deformed bodies behind the glass wall.

"His copies. Unsuccessful as you can see."

At this moment he knew there would be no story. That had to be buried deep down, so the world would never find out. He had to destroy it as Tess had asked him to.

"Lex wanted to clone himself?" he asked, completely horrified by the range of evil his ex-friend had created.

"Yes. Apparently he didn't believe in the existence of a soul. Those clones… they are just bodies, no soul, no spark. If they were successful they might be acting like humans, having Lex's memories, but… they would never be the real Lex."

"I knew Lex before he became evil," Clark confessed, "and he was a good man, he had to have a soul. Only…"

"His father… our father…" Tess corrected herself with a heavy sigh. That betray still hurt. What Lex had done to her hurt even more, "destroyed him. Take all the goodness inside him and poisoned it."

Clark nodded.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to burn it all to the ground."

"Are there any more of those labs?"

"Not that I know off and believe me, I was looking."

* * *

After having taken care of the lab Clark wanted to come back to Lois, but instead he found himself in Washington, knocking to his mother's office door.

He needed to talk to somebody that knew him well, knew him the longest. He loved his wife more than life and he'd proven that many times, but he needed an advice. His mother was the only one that could give it to him at this moment

"Clark Kent!" she raised her voice as he started talking and then stopped in shock at her outburst. Why was she screaming at him? "Do you honestly want to tell me that you _died_ and didn't tell me?!"

"Oh, eh… mum… I just… I didn't want to worry you."

"And here I thought you managed to stay on Earth. I didn't think you… _feel down from a rooftop?!_"

"Mum… I just didn't want you to worry. You have so much on your head right now and…"

"Oh, save it…" Martha Kent sat behind her desk and sighed heavily. "Ok, I'm mentally prepared for more information. Go on…"

* * *

"I love her, mum, I love her more than anything, but… I can't get rid of that constant feeling that I'm failing her. She's always hurt because of me. She's already been through hell. Every time we think we can finally start off with our lives something happens and we're right at the beginning. And now I'm causing her pain again. I can't give her a child. I would really like to have one myself, but I... I just can't…"

"Oh, Clark," Martha's voice grew tender now and she reached for her son's hand across the desk. "You are not failing her. We, women, are strong. Probably even stronger than most of men, but they would never admit it. Lois knew exactly what she was getting into when she agreed to marry you. It wasn't even that she had to think it over. Love chose for her. I am sure she never regretted it and that you two will be happy. With or without a child."

"But… I hate not being able to give her the basics things a husband should. I know I'm doing something amazing with my powers right now, but if… if I could become human for her… I would. I want nothing more than to give that happiness to her. I want, just for once, to be selfish."

"Maybe you can…" Martha suddenly said, her voice growing more excited with every seconds. "Clark!"

"What is it, mum?" He was watching her face closely. "What?"

She just smiled to him.

"You can have a child."

"How?"

* * *

"Clark?! Clark, is that you?!" Lois called him when she finally heard the front door opening.

He'd been gone for a long time and she started to worry.

"Where were you?" she asked from her position on the couch as he finally walked into the living room.

"I went to see my mum. I needed to talk to her," he answered.

"Oh, how is she?" Lois asked, barely holding on. She really wanted to pester him for not telling her where he'd been, but she decided to save it for later.

"Good."

"Clark…"

"Lois…"

They started at the same time.

"Clark, let me," she quickly said. "I need to tell you something. I've done some thinking and I'm sorry. I know you're just trying to protect me and you're worrying about me. I want you to know I will not push anymore. If we can't have a child, that's fine by me. You're enough. And we can always adopt sometime in the future as you suggested and..."

"Lois," he stopped her as he squatted in front of her. "We can."

"Can what?" she asked, not really following.

"We can have a child. I want to have a child with you," he told her while placing his hands on her laps.

"What… I… I don't understand." She was very confused.

"We can thanks to this," he said and opened his right hand. Blue meteor rock in it.

Lois just gaped.

"It was my mum that made me realize. Blue kryptonite doesn't hurt me. It just strips me off my powers, making me human. As soon as I stay away from it, my powers are back."

"So…" she said and stopped. "So… if I go off my pills and you wear that rock… then we can make a human baby?"

"Yes. And it will be our baby. I will be the father."

She just stared at him in awe. Then he noticed tears in her eyes.

"I'm so happy, Clark!" she finally exclaimed and got to the floor, too, putting her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Thank you!"

"Thank _you,_" Clark said into her ear.

"We can go right now…"

"But your pills…"

"It won't hurt to practice it without your super stamina," she teased him as she slid her hand underneath his shirt, caressing his skin.

"Hey!" he bridled. "Just because I'm human now doesn't mean I can't have a satisfactory sex life."

"Ok, then prove it."

"You're a little minx."

"You know I like to tease you." She winked at him and unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his gorgeous chest to her eyes. She bent down and kissed a path from his nipple up his neck, finally reaching his lips.

He stood up and raised her from the floor, then walked upstairs to the bedroom.

"Ah, and I so got used to the speeding," she sighed, pretending to be disappointed with him again.

"I'll show you that it'll be worth it," he growled. "Only you have to remember not to squeeze me too hard or not to rake your fingernails into my body. Now you can actually hurt me."

"And I very much enjoy it," she said as he finally reached their bed and put her on it. She sat on the edge of it and undid his fly.

"It's not fair, you still haven your clothes on," he complained, but soon forgot about that as she stroked his hardening cock and then licked his length. "Oh, fuck…" he coursed, bucking his hips into her mouth. "God, that feels good…"

She smiled and begun to suck.

Soon Clark stopped her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I need… to come inside you. I don't know how long it takes to get it up again… you know, without powers…" His face reddened.

"I can't believe it! Clark Kent, you're blushing!" she said, looking at him with fascination. "I like the human you. I like how responsive you are… how out of control…" she said and stroked him again, watching his whole body twitching. He also started sweating. "I really, really love it!"

He jumped to her, the impact sending her backwards on the pillow.

"Oh! And I love that you can't hurt me now with such a reckless behavior," she giggled.

"Taking your clothes off takes a lot longer this time, but…" he started undressing her, "it's just that much fan."

When they were both naked Clark was twitching with need so much that he felt like he would die if he didn't get inside her already. Luckily for him, she craved for him just as much.

"Oh, God!" he rasped when he found himself in the hot clasp of her body. "Is it always like that for you?" he asked. "It's… it's so good to be human. Soooo good…" he said and pushed inside her.

"Yes… it is…" she confirmed. "I love you being human, too… so… responsive… so out… of control…"

All this time she thought multiple orgasms and him being hard anytime she needed him to and how many times she wanted him was beyond amazing. But now, when Clark was finally able to let go of his restrains as there was no way he could seriously hurt her, was so much better. She loved his body's responses. The sounds he was emitting. The way he held her. There was no barriers for them anymore. They were one, they were equal.

She always treated him as an equal, but there was a difference when it was actually physically true.

In that moment she understood it wasn't about multiple orgasms and fucking till exhaustion. Love was so much more. And they were experiencing it in the purest form now.

"Oh… Jess… God… I love you… love…" Clark muttered as he finally came, spilling inside her as her channel clamped around him viciously.

He could just lain there, on her, in her arms, breathing heavily, depleted of all his strength. He didn't feel like moving. He was human and he loved to feel like one.

"We need to make you a necklace with blue kryptonite," he suggested few minutes later.

"Why?"

"So the rock wouldn't slip or we wouldn't lose it while making love. I don't want to accidentally hurt you."

"That makes sense," she agreed. "We'll figure something out tomorrow. Now, let's go to sleep."

"Agreed," Clark said, grateful for a dose of human sleep now.


	20. Part 10 - On The Other Side

**Part 10 On The Other Side**

Almost two months went by and Clark still had to adjust to the fact that Tess Mercer was actually an ally now. She gave the Justice League all the access to LuthorCorp and now was thinking of a merger with Queen Industries. Clark himself couldn't stand to see someone suffering so he managed to eventually forgive her for what she'd done to him and let her lean on him.

Until one night when she actually confessed that she had feelings for him.

He could just stand there, looking at her completely flabbergasted.

"I just… I need…" she sighed and raised on her tiptoes, trying to reach his face and kiss him.

That snapped Clark out of his shock state and he grabbed her shoulders, preventing her from making a move on him.

"Tess, I… I have a wife," he said. "I'm sorry if I've given you the wrong impression, but I do love Lois with my whole heart and that will never change." He tried to figure out what he'd done to make Tess think there could be something between them and came up with nothing. He was there for her, that was true, but as a friend, he thought that was clear. When he came back home every day he usually take his wife to bed and they kept trying to make a baby. They knew once she stopped taking the pills it could take a while until she would be fertile again, but eventually, it would happen.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry," Tess sighed heavily. "I just… I know you didn't make any move on me… I… I just feel…" she started babbling.

That was yet another woman in his life that felt something for him when he couldn't reciprocate. It reminded him of Chloe and he missed her so much. Tess somehow managed to replace her, not as his true friend, that was his wife now, but as a sidekick. She'd been helping Oliver and his team a lot recently. She'd even earned herself a place at Watchtower, therefore giving Victor some rest.

"I'm sorry," he said once more.

"It's ok. I don't know what I've been thinking… I know she's the love of your life and you're too gallant to ever cheat on her and…"

"And I wouldn't because I don't want to," Clark added.

"Right," Tess said. "I just needed to tell you and now… we can be friends."

"Alright," he said, but he still felt awkward. "What is it?" He stumbled across something shiny.

They were going through one of old abandoned LuthorCorp labs that Tess had located for the League.

"No! Clark, don't touch it!" Tess screamed, but it was too late.

He was already gone.

"Damn it!" she cursed, looking at the Mirror.

* * *

"Clark, what are you doing here?" Lois asked him as he strode into his bullpen in the Planet. "Shouldn't you be taking care of that lab with Tess?"

He was looking at her strangely.

"Are you ok?" she followed with another question. "Is something wrong?"

He just kept looking like he saw her for the very first time. He seemed surprised.

"Oh, I just need to tell you already. I'm so excited!" she suddenly exclaimed, but lowered her voice again as she looked around if anyone was paying attention to them. "Come!" She took his hand and led him to her bullpen, then made him sit in her chair.

She squatted by him, her hands on his laps. "It happened, Clark! We… we're going to have a baby!" she squealed with a huge smile on her face.

He just kept staring at her, even more surprised now, like he didn't understand any of it.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you?!" Lois suddenly growled at him. "I thought you wanted it."

"I don't know why you're talking about this to me, Jessica," he finally uttered, his voice cold like ice. "

The rest of her smile faded away completely as she was staring at him in shock.

"What… what are you… why the hell did you just call me Jessica?" she huffed.

He suddenly stood up, pushing her away. She nearly fell down as she stumbled backwards.

"You should tell the news to my brother, I'm sure he'll be thrilled. Oh, and your husband will be even more since he had no idea you were cheating on him," Clark said and wanted to walk pass her.

"What… what the fuck are you talking about?! What brother?"

"Oh, don't play games with me. He might not be my blood brother, but I was raised as a Luthor after all."

"Luthor?" Lois gaped at him. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing. Now, stay out of my way!"

He pushed her away again and she landed in the chair that was previously occupied by him.

She could just look after him with her eyes widely opened in shock.

* * *

"Wait! Wait! Ollie, what are you doing?!" Clark was trying to calm Oliver down. He didn't understand what was happening. One moment he was standing in that abandoned lab, touching the strange glassy artifact, and in the next he was on the rooftop and Oliver was holding a green kryptonite in his hand.

"What do you think, Luthor?! I finally found a way to get rid of you once and for all!"

"Oliver, this isn't you! We're friends… and… why did you just call me a Luthor?" Clark couldn't understand any of it.

"Because that is who you are! Now… do you know what this is?" He opened his free fist and showed Clark a yellow piece of rock. "It's a yellow meteor rock and, supposedly, it takes away your powers... forever. You'll become just like every one of us and you will never hurt anyone else!"

"Oliver, I never…" Clark started, but soon back out as Oliver came closer still holding the green rock with clear intention of attacking him with the yellow. Clark stumbled backwards and fell over the roof.

He was fine, his powers restoring in his mid way down, but he did make a dent in the sidewalk.

He quickly heaved himself to his feet, terrified that people around him saw it.

They did. But they all had… green rocks.

Clark couldn't understand any of it. What was happening? Where was he? Was it his world? After all when he touched that artifact something shifted around him.

He managed to escape before anyone got close enough.

Oliver called him a Luthor. There was only one place to find an answer to that one.

He speeded off towards the mansion.

* * *

He was just about to open the study door when he was struck by the voices coming from the inside.

It sounded like… he used his super hearing and was frozen in place. He heard Lois and… Lex.

But Lex was dead!

"I can't do this anymore, Lex," Clark heard her saying. "I can't go on like this. I need to be free from him. I married him, because I thought he could protect me, but… how erroneous it is that I ended up loving the brother of the one I'm so afraid of?"

"Jessica… I know Clark had this unhealthy fascination with you, but I promise you," Lex said, "I will never let him hurt you. The whole town knows now about the meteor rocks. All thanks to Oliver."

"And I can't be with him anymore. I need to finally leave him. That is not a life, Lex. I love _you!_"

The voices stopped and Clark was forced to peak while this time using his X-Ray vision. He was shocked even more, because Lex and Jessica were kissing. Her hands were around his neck, then she caressed his head and he moaned into her mouth as she opened for the advance of his tongue.

Clark couldn't watch it, yet he couldn't take his eyes away.

What kind of a bizarre world was that? Lex wasn't evil, but he, Clark, was? And he was a Luthor?

Suddenly he realized that the artifact must've sent him to some other dimension and, in this reality, Lex was the good one.

"I love you so much," Lex told Jessica while finally breaking the kiss and cupping her face. "I have a plan. We can get away from Smallville. From all the people we don't want to see again. We will never be bothered by Clark, my father or your husband."

"Would you do this for me? Run away? Leave your life behind?"

"I would do _anything_ for you," he emphasized, looking her deeply in the eye, emotions heavy on his face. "We have to change our identities, though. We need to fake our deaths, blame it on Clark."

Jessica nodded.

Clark didn't need to guess. She was still Jessica in this world, but soon she would become Lois Lane, he could bet. He wasn't sure about Lex yet. Maybe he would go for Alexander and take her surname?

She kissed him again with all her passion. Lex reciprocated and pushed her against the desk. She was wearing a skirt, so he pulled it up.

Clark didn't want to watch, but yet, couldn't stop.

"Fuck me, Lex, fuck me hard," she pleaded as she reached to his fly and undid it.

Lex entered her quickly, fulfilling her wish and fucking her hard against the desk.

"Oh, yes, yes, I love you so much… yes!" she was screaming and he was groaning loudly and driving into her.

Clark ran. Ran away as fast and as far away as he could.

He refused to live in a world where Lois didn't love him. He refused to stay there. He was doomed here. Everyone knew who he was, everyone hated him. And if Oliver found him… he would take away his powers. Forever. And there would be no coming back from that.

He had to get out of there. He had to find his way back home. But how?

The LuthorCorp lab?

He speeded to that place and was welcomed by it up and running. It wasn't abandoned in this world, what more, when he scanned through it he noticed Lionel Luthor.

And there, in his office, was the glass artifact.

All Clark had to do was to get it. Touch it. That should switch him back.

Suddenly he was struck by the thought that if he was here… then the other Clark, Clark Luthor was there, in his world. He was terrified of what he might've done to his wife…

He speeded to Lionel's office.

And had the bad luck of getting there just in time Lionel came back for something.

"What… what are you doing here, my son? How did you find out about this place?!" Lionel asked, completely taken aback.

"I am _not _your son!" Clark shouted and touched the artifact.

* * *

He was standing in Watchtower that looked like a tornado came through it.

And his friends were all around him, aiming kryptonite knifes and arrows at him.

"Oh wow! Wow! It's me! It's me! Clark! I swear!" he exclaimed, raising his hands up in surrender. "It's me." He found Lois standing next to Oliver, her face pale, visible tear stains on it. She was holding a bow with an arrow ready to be released, too.

He looked deep into her eyes, trying to show her that he loved her, that he wasn't some cold bastard. That she was his whole world and only she mattered.

"Lois, please!"

Lois lowered the bow.

"Lois!" Oliver scolded her. "What are you…"

"It's not a trick. I know it," she told him and made few steps towards Clark. "I can see it in his eyes. Besides, he called me Lois."

"Just another one of his tricks!"

"No!" she denied and got to the floor on her knees, just as Clark was now. She cupped his face and looked at him from up close. "Clark," she finally exhaled a breath of relief. "I knew it was you!" She flung her arms around him and he reciprocated, hugging her tightly. His powers gone, because she was wearing the blue kryptonite as a necklace now.

"I'm so sorry I touched that…" It was all on him. Again.

"It's ok. You couldn't have known."

"I just…"

"Clark," Lois pulled away and cupped his face. "If I saw something shiny on the floor of an abandoned lab I would probably pick it up to. What could it hurt, right? Don't worry about it."

"But you were crying," he said, running his finger through her cheek.

"Well, yeah, I thought you would never come back and…" she stopped. "We need to get home and talk, Clark."

"Of course," he said, dreading what that must be about. He would hate to lose her. Although he wouldn't blame her. No matter how much she loved him, there could come a point in their lives where it would be too much for her. And he understood it.

"Clark, are you alright?" Tess asked when he stood up. "I'm sorry. I tried to warn you…"

"It's ok," Clark told her. "It wasn't your fault. It was an accident."

"What was it like? If you don't mind me asking," Oliver started, finally folding his bow and coming closer while unarmed.

"It was…" he started and looked at Lois. "I'm not sure if…"

"Clark, I can handle it," Lois encouraged him. "Besides, I want to know, too. You owe me the truth, remember?"

"Yes…" he sighed. "It was like a distorted reflection of this world. I was evil, raised by Lionel. You were Oliver's wife…"

"Wait… what?!" Lois raised her voice. "Why?!"

"You didn't love him. You married him to be save. I… the other Clark… was interested in you."

"I see," Ollie said, as much shocked as Lois was.

"That's not all. I saw Lex," Clark notified. "Only he was a good man and…" his voice trailed off and he started at the wall.

"Lex?" Lois nudged. "Clark, please… if you tell us, you will feel a lot better."

"You loved him, ok?!" he snapped at her. "Sorry… I just… I saw you two together. You wanted to run away, change your identities and…"

"You think that if Lex was a good man I would be with him and everything would've been different now?" Lois guessed Clark's thoughts. "But, Clark, I must've been different somehow in that world, too. Don't you think?"

"Lionel didn't seem to be," Clark noticed.

"Well, are you sure? You saw him?"

"Yes, but I didn't exactly talk to him… he was hiding the artifact from me and…"

"The Mirror," Tess cut in.

"What?"

"It's called the Mirror." She was holding it in her hands now.

"Why it doesn't affect you?" Clark asked, looking at it closely.

"It's not from this Earth. I have reasons to believe it's alien. It was in the possession of my father for a very long time. It'd belonged to the Veritas before he stole it. I think it was meant to harm or capture you. It can't affect us, common people."

"Ok then," Clark said. "Put it on the floor."

"What?"

"Do it!"

Tess obeyed and Clark, when stepping away from Lois, smashed it with his shoe.

"I'm sorry, but it had to be destroyed," he said. "There's a copy in the other world, the other Clark could've got in through this again."

"The Mirrors are connected, so I don't think the passage still works when one is shattered," Tess agreed.

"Alright. Great. Can I go home now?"

"Clark…" Oliver started.

"I really have enough, Oliver. All I want is to have a normal life and everything just keeps… ah! I just want to go. I need to be alone with my wife now if you don't mind. I want to forget what I've seen!... Do you have the lead box I gave you?" he turned to Lois.

She nodded.

"Put the necklace inside, please."

As she did so, he took her in his arms.

"I'm not sure it's such a good idea…" she hesitated.

"Why?" he asked.

"Never mind… just… go."

So he speeded off with her.

* * *

As soon as Lois's feet hit the ground she pulled away from Clark's arms and ran inside the farm, straight to the bathroom.

"Lois?" Clark asked, surprised at her sudden retreat. "Lois, are you alright?" He speeded inside the house and found her throwing up into the toilet. "God, are you sick? You should've said so. We could've taken the car…"

"I'm not sick…" she said, finally getting a little relief and she raised up from the floor.

Clark got to her, holding her, but she pushed him away, uncomfortable with him close when she just threw up.

He misunderstood her. He thought she didn't want to be around him anymore.

"Lois, if you want to leave, if this is all too much for you… I'll… I will understand," he finally said as she was brushing her teeth.

"WHAT?!" She turned around so fast she got dizzy again and had to grab the sink as not to fall down.

"Ok, now I'm concerned," he voiced his worry and got to her, holding her again. This time she let him. He wondered why. "If you don't want to leave me and obviously just now you do accept my support, then what is it?"

She rolled her eyes.

"You're so blind. Men!" she huffed and left the bathroom while rinsing her mouth with water.

He followed her to the living room when she sat on the couch.

"Lois…" he started again, but to his horror she burst out laughing.

"Oh, Clark, you're so funny! I am not mad at you and I am certainly not going to leave you. I am pregnant for a Christ's sake!"

He stared at her for a long time before he was able to say something.

"And I didn't feel comfortable with you close to me when I threw up," she added. "And I did do it, because I'm pregnant."

"That… that is…" he started, looking for his tongue inside his mouth, "wonderful news! I'm so happy!" He took her in his arms, carefully on remembering she wasn't wearing the meteor rock at the moment. "We'll be parents! We'll going to have a baby!"

She was crying now.

"Sorry, stupid hormones," she explained when he shot her another worried look when he let her go. "I'm acting all jittery and weird… you'll have to suffer through those nine months with me. And don't you ever think that I'm going to leave, you idiot!"

"So… the other Clark didn't… hurt you in any way?"

"Well, he did laugh at my face when I told him about the baby. Oh, and he told me to tell his brother. Now I know what that was about," Lois shrugged.

"And you're taking it so lightly?" Clark asked.

"Well, back them I wanted to cry, but now… it's funny, ya know? How would you react if the secret lover of your brother suddenly told you she was pregnant?"

"It's not funny…"

"I'm sick of crying, so just let me laugh at this," she said and cupped his face. "I'm not crazy. Besides, I have reasons to be happy. In nine months we'll welcome a little, new member to our family and the Mirror is destroyed… it's a success."

"If you say so," he said and leaned to kiss her.

"Did it hurt much?" she suddenly asked against his lips.

"What?"

"Seeing me in love with Lex. After all it was like the worst nightmare coming true, wasn't it?"

"No," Clark denied. "My worst nightmare is you getting hurt. Seeing you happy with somebody who is good is not a nightmare. And you _were_ happy, Lois."

"I love you so much," she said while caressing his face.

"If he was good in that world and could give you what you wanted, then I'm fine with it."

"Clark Kent, you are truly an amazing man."

* * *

**A/N **It just came to me. Would you want a spin off about the mirror world and Jessica/Lex romance? Or it's more like for Lex's fans than Clark's… but I feel really inspired.


	21. Part 11 - Rise

**A/N **So, the spin-off (if I should call it that way) will definitely happen. I will start is as soon as I finish this story and the title will be _Looking in the Mirror_

Also, I started a new short story (Chlex) – _Till Death Do Us Part_

**A/N2 **Oh, one more thing. I don't know if you'd be interested, but I'm making opening credits to _every single one _episode of Smallville with different songs/music. You can see them on my youtube channel (link in my profile/it's called _Smallvillevids _if you want to look it up on youtube). Currently I'm making season 4.

* * *

**Part 11**

**Rise**

As there was more and more vigilantes appearing in Metropolis and in neighbor towns, the government wanted to hunt them down. For a while Justice League was worried, but no one could stop the member from helping people. Also, Marta Kent, who had a seat in the Senate, started a campaign to protect the vigilantes what resulted in passing of the bill on Vigilante Registration Act.

"Aren't you just so proud of your mother?" Lois asked when she was eating dinner with Clark one evening. "She's amazing and so strong. I wish I could've been more like her," she suddenly said. "She sacrificed everything in her life to move to the farm with the man she loved, raised an alien and did a hell of a great job, was there for you whenever you needed her, lost her husband and took his Senate seat… I just… She's my role model, Clark… what?" Lois asked when she noticed that he was looking at her with a funny expression.

"Nothing, just… Lois, you _are_ like her. Maybe you don't realize it, but _you_ are the strongest person I know. You're not afraid of risking your life or heart for those you love. Can't you see that?" he told her and scootched towards her on the couch. "How many times _you _had to endure losing me? How much _you _sacrificed for me?"

"Well…" Lois cleared her throat when she heard that and saw the look in her husband's eyes. Her belly was very visible right now, hormones cursing through her body and they were really killing her. And now she wanted to cry on top of all that different urges she'd been having. The sex drive was the most pleasurable one, but she'd been troubled at the beginning while she hadn't wanted Clark to see her naked and getting fat. Clark, of course, was wonderful, he loved her swollen body, because she was carrying his child. As that one had been settled she'd started enjoying their sex life plus she still wore the blue kryptonite. They couldn't risk Clark losing control even for a second as she was pregnant and therefore so fragile. About food, she really liked eating and laughing at the look on Clark's face when he saw how she mixed all different kinds of food that supposedly shouldn't be put together on one plate. The only worry she had was getting too fat, but she guessed she would care about losing weight after she gave birth to their child because right now it's health was the most important thing to her. There were also all that emotions as just a stupid commercial with babies and puppies could bring her to tears. Not to mention what Clark said to her. "Ok…" she tried to continue and not start crying again. "Clark Kent, are you trying to butter me up? Or maybe… damn, you just want the strong women in your life, don't you? As I look at it now…" she thought for a moment, "yes, there is not even a single weak one around you. Even Mercer is strong and I actually felt sorry for her when I found out what she's been through." _Uh oh, _Lois thought. She managed to wander away from what Clark had told her and she found herself thinking of Tess. And what the Luthors had done to Tess was just another reason to cry.

"You don't have to be embarrassed," Clark reassured her while cupping her face and wiping one stray tear from her cheek, "I know you're strong and you wouldn't be crying on every passing occasion if it wasn't for the pregnancy."

Lois laughed, tears gone for now.

"I bet you're sick of my mood swings," she chuckled.

"Well, the sex kind of helps," Clark said, being only half-serious.

"Then I think we finished here," Lois said while glancing at what was left from the food. "Let's celebrate!"

* * *

She was sitting on Clark's laps, facing him and kissing him, his hands cupping her rounded bottom.

There was an incessant knocking coming from the door.

"You have to be kidding me!" Lois huffed as she broke the kiss. "Who can it be at such late hour?"

"I don't know, but it might be important," Clark sighed, disappointed. "I guess this has to wait."

She made a face and got off of him, so he could stand up and get to the door.

"Tess? What are you doing here?" Lois heard him saying.

"And I was so close to crying over her," Lois shook her head and followed Clark. "Tess, what is it?" She knew something was deeply wrong when she took a good look at the red read's face.

"It's Lionel. He's back."

* * *

"Let me get this straight," Oliver said while pacing around Watchtower.

They were all there on an impromptu meeting and those who couldn't come were participating via internet connection.

"…you think that Lionel Luthor came along when Clark was transferred back here from the Mirror World?" Oliver finished his thought.

"I don't think so," Tess denied, "I know so! There's no other explanation!"

"Well, maybe it's a clone? You destroyed a lab of malfunctioned Lexs, didn't you?"

"It's not a clone! He is as real as any of us. He just… doesn't belong here."

"And I can't send him back," Clark spoke, "I destroyed the Mirror. If I knew…"

"Clark, you couldn't have known," Lois said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "And that was the right call. We couldn't let Clark Luthor into this world again."

"Only now we have to deal with his father!" Clark raised his voice and stood up, leaving Lois on the sofa. "Every time… every single time we're closer to a normal life something happens and we're right when we started! I'm sick of it!"

"Well, you can't exactly call our life a normal one," Oliver told him. "You should've accepted by now that we will never rest. There will always be a bad guy to deal with, doesn't matter if a Luthor or not."

"I know, I know…" Clark said, running his hand through his hair. "It's just… I don't want to deal with any more Luthors or aliens… I'm sorry, Tess," he suddenly realized that he might've offended her.

"It's ok. I don't feel like a Luthor anyway."

"So, he took everything?" Dinah made sure. "I mean you have no access to LuthorCorp?"

"Or the mansion," Tess sighed.

"You can stay here," Oliver suggested. "You've been spending a lot of nights here anyway."

"I wanted to do something good and being here make me feel like I have a purpose," Tess explained.

"We need to get it all back," Victor finally spoke.

"How? I have no rights to it now, even if I proof that Lionel is my father… it's all up to him. He has the power. And we don't even know what he's planning to do with it…"

"I can try to find out," Dinah suggested. "It won't be my first rodeo."

"Just be careful," Oliver told her.

* * *

The door to Watchtower burst open as Dinah strode inside three hours later.

"Kent, I need you here now!" she screamed to her phone.

Lois was there alone, sitting on the sofa with her laptop and writing an article.

"Dinah?" she asked, confused. "Are you alright? What happened?"

She didn't get any answer.

She put the laptop away and stood up, making her way to her friend.

"Dinah?" she repeated.

The blonde looked like she was seething with rage.

"I have the answer to all the world's problems! It all started when _he _came down on Earth!" she screamed.

"What are you…" Lois stopped as she saw what Dinah was holding.

It was a meteor rock. Yellow.

"Dinah, where did you get that?" Lois asked, terrified, but the blonde just smirked in return. "You can't use it! It'll strip Clark off his powers forever!"

"That's the point, isn't it?" Dinah asked.

"No, it's not you… something must've happened to you. Have you seen Lionel? It's his fault, isn't it?"

Clark walked inside in that very moment.

"What is it, Dinah?" he asked. "Why…" he stopped on seeing Lois terrified. "What's going on?"

"Clark, get back, it's golden kryptonite!" Lois exclaimed and knocked the rock out of Dinah hand. It fell to the floor.

"You bitch!" Dinah got angry and pushed Lois as hard as she could, then bent to pick the rock.

Clark was faster, he speeded towards her and took her away from the meteor.

In the same time Lois lost her balance and hit her head against the steel desk.

The was only darkness…

* * *

"Jess… Jessica!" she heard a voice.

She tried to open her mouth to tell that person that she wasn't Jessica. They couldn't call her by her real name. Not when there was obviously Lionel Luthor in the world again.

"Jessica!"

"Stop!" she finally found the tongue to speak. "Don't call me that!"

Why was it so dark? She couldn't see.

Her eyes were closed. She tried to open them, but it was so hard…

"Jessica, you're ok. You have to keep going. They need you back."

"What? Who need me back?"

Finally, Lois opened her eyes. As soon as she did so, she was struck by seeing Lana's face above her.

"Lana?!" She sat up so fast she felt dizzy.

She looked around, scared. They were in the Talon.

But it was impossible, because the Talon blew up.

"Jessica, you have to wake up!" She heard another voice and turned around.

Chloe, just like she remembered her, was standing there, smiling to her.

"Come on!" She bent down and grabbed Lois's shoulder, helping her up to her feet. "Get up! You don't have much time!"

"I don't… I don't understand…" Lois said with panic. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here? Am I… god, I'm dead, aren't I? What about my baby… I…"

"Calm down!" Lana interrupted her flow of words. "You are not dead. Close, but you're not there yet."

"Lana… Chloe…" Lois started. "Chloe, I am so…"

"Don't mention it. It wasn't your fault. I did this to myself. I chose to go and keep digging like I always do. There's no one to blame."

"Except… Lex, I guess," Lois said.

"Jessica, we love you and we will be waiting here for you, but your time is not up yet," Lana told her. "I just want you to know I miss you."

"I miss you, too. Both of you," Lois felt tears in her eyes again. It wasn't the real world, it was some kind of a passage from it to the afterlife, but yet, it all felt so tangible. She could touch her friends.

She hugged them both.

"Thank you for being there for Clark," Lana said into her ear. "I'm so happy you found each other. He and I were never meant to be, but I am happy that I brought you together. If that was my life purpose, than I'm glad to oblige."

"Lana, don't say that… it's not…" Lois protested.

"Why not?" Lana asked when she let her go. "He's the greatest hero the world will ever know and without you he wouldn't be. You inspire him, give him solace, give him love. He is the one he is thanks to you and I am responsible for you two meeting."

Lois really cried now.

"Lana, we need to go," Chloe pulled on her sleeve. "Lana! He's coming!"

"I figured he might," Lana sighed.

"What?" Lois frowned. "Who's coming? What's going on?"

But they were already gone and all she caught was them saying that they loved her.

Suddenly, the room darkened, the lights went out.

Lois's heart rate accelerated, she was scared again.

Somebody put their hands on her shoulders from behind and she flinched, turned around, terrified.

"Lex?!" she exclaimed in both shock and horror.

"It's ok," he said soothingly and raised his hands in surrender. His face sad and full of guilt. "It's ok. I won't hurt you. I promise."

She could just stare at him with her eyes widely opened.

"Lex… what…"

"Listen, you don't have much time left, so just let me say what I need to say. I am sorry. So, so sorry, Jessica. I wish I could take it all back, but I can't. I never meant to become that awful person. _Never_."

"But you did," she noticed, still not sure if she should just stay there and talk to him. But what else could she do? It wasn't like she knew a way out of there.

"I was made that way by my father, but I know I could've fought harder. I shouldn't have given up and I shouldn't have caused you so much pain. I love you. I've _always _loved you. Please, I'm begging you, let me have some peace. Forgive me."

She could only stare into his blue-gray eyes, those eyes that had captivated her so many times in the past. She missed him and she didn't even realize it until know. She'd dealt with him being gone, because she'd forced herself to forget the good man she'd remembered and just have the image in her mind of him being completely evil. She knew now that it was wrong. She believed him when he said he was sorry. Why would he lie in such a place? Could people even lie in the afterlife? And why would he come to all this trouble of seeing her if he wasn't honest?

"Please," he repeated, "I know well that I don't deserve it, but…"

"I forgive you," Lois didn't even know when those words escaped her lips. She was surprised by them herself, but once she said it she knew it was true.

She noticed real tears in his eyes now and was mesmerized by them.

"I'm so sorry," he said once again. "I wish we could… at least be friends. I was too greedy, I was evil. I couldn't stand seeing you in Clark's arms and…"

"Lex, it wasn't your fault. It was that experiment you conducted in your lab, the one that split you into two. That destroyed it. You didn't mean it. You fought your father well, but then… something dark took reign over you."

"It was always there, just then it was free. My conscience gone."

"I'm sorry."

"Do you think… if it hadn't happened… we could…"

"Maybe," she said. "But we can't think of what if. Life is what it is. It's about choices we make every day and they shape our destiny. And we can never ever come back."

"I miss you."

"And I miss you, too," she cried again.

"Can you tell Clark… that I'm sorry?"

"Of course."

"I don't think he'll ever forgive me, but…"

"He will, I know so. He likes to forgive."

"Yeah, he does. He's so good… Jessica, I am glad that you have him. I just want you to be happy."

"I am, I really am." She smiled to him through tears and reached her hands to cup his face.

He brought her closer and put his arms around her.

"There's some other world, other dimension," she said straight to his ear, "where we are in love. We're together and you are a good man."

"Really?" he asked.

"Really."

"Thank you. I love you."

"And I…"

She was being ripped away from Lex. Was falling. Down… Down… Down…

* * *

"Oh, thank god!" she heard as soon as she opened her eyes again.

She was lying on something soft, a bed. White covers. And there was a strange machine next to her that was beeping.

She was alive. And obviously in hospital.

"Lois? Lois, can you hear me, honey?" Clark asked and held her hand.

She finally looked at him sitting by her bed.

"Yeah…" she uttered, "yes, I am. What happened?... Wait, Dinah… are you…?"

"I'm fine," he said with a smile and tears in his eyes, then he stroked her hair. "I am fine. I stopped her. Oliver took care of the kryptonite. But the most important thing… Lois, I am so sorry I didn't notice you falling. I was so focused on stopping Dinah, on keeping my powers that I…"

"It's ok. Maybe it was meant to be."

"What do you mean?" he frowned.

"What about the baby? Is it alright?" she suddenly asked.

"Yes, they said you nearly died there, but they brought you back. The baby is fine. Your brain was without oxygen for only a little time, so…"

"Oh, thank god!" Lois released a breath she was unconsciously holding.

There was a knocking on the door and Oliver stuck his head in.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, thanks Ollie."

"Nice to have you back. You had us worried there for a while."

"What about Dinah? Is she ok?"

"She was infected with some toxin while she was following Lionel. Tess's on it right now."

"Is she careful?"

"Don't worry." Oliver's phone rang. "Excuse me," he said and closed the door.

"Clark, I need to tell you something," Lois started while stroking Clark's hand.

"What is it, honey?"

"This might sound crazy, but… I think I had a near death experience and saw… our dead friends."

"What do you mean?"

"I talked to them… for a while."

"You were gone only few seconds."

"It seemed longer, but the time isn't important here. Clark, I talked to Lana and Chloe and…" she swallowed, "Lex."

"Lex?!" he raised his voice. "Sorry," he said on seeing the look on her face. "It's not like he could hurt you when you were technically…" his voice trailed off.

"Oh no, he could, but he wouldn't have. Clark, he's… he understands. He regrets… he told me to say he's sorry…" Lois needed to tell Clark everything, but she needed to start from the beginning.

* * *

"This is just… wow…" Clark said, completely stunned on hearing it all. "So Chloe and Lana are happy there?"

"Yes, and they don't blame us. It just happened. We can't control things in life."

"Yes, of course we can't, but I like to do my best to be able to," Clark sighed. "I'm just glad that you're ok. I just feel such…"

"…sorrow? Regret?" Lois suggested. "I know, me, too. I feel so sorry. And not only for losing them, also for losing… _him_."

"He meant a lot to you."

"And to you," she emphasized. "He was your best friend, Clark, and I want you to know that he still is, wherever he is, he _is_ your best friend."

"I'm happy to know that he changed. Even if he did it after he died… God, that sounds crazy, doesn't it?"

"But it's true."

"Guys, we…" Oliver came back, his face pale.

"What is it?" Lois asked, concerned.

"It's Lex," Tess walked in after Oliver. "Lionel died trying to bring his son back. Apparently, he succeeded."

* * *

**A/N **Like Jessica & Lex? Read my other story _JeXVille_ and the upcoming fanfic:D


	22. Part 12 - Hero

**Part 12**

**Hero**

"_It's Lex," Tess walked in after Oliver. "Lionel died trying to bring his son back. Apparently, he succeeded."_

Clark just could stare at her in shock, but Lois exclaimed, "WHAT?! That can't possible! I… I _know_ he's dead! This may sound crazy, but I… I had a near death experience and I… I saw him. He apologized to me."

To her astonishment they didn't treat her like she was crazy, just the opposite. Tess actually spoke, "I know it's not him," her voice bitter. "It's a clone. A shell without a soul, but with all Lex's memories and, therefore, that much more dangerous. He has to be stopped," she turned to Clark. "He knows your weakness, Clark. He knows _everything_ there is to know about you."

"We can't kill him," Clark said firmly. "We just can't."

Lois knew it was better not to go there since Clark and Oliver seemed to be finally getting along again.

"I'm not suggesting that. I have a better idea," Tess said, surprising her once again. "There's a way to take all his memories away, to leave just a shell. He'll still be around, but he won't know any of you."

"I can do it," Clark offered.

"No, I can. We have… unfinished business. Even if that is not the real Lex I'll feel better if I face him and do this to him. He deserves every bit of the pain. I want to see the look on his face when I tell him that in about thirty seconds all his memories will be gone."

In that moment Oliver's cell started beeping incessantly.

"What is it? It sounds like an alarm," Lois noticed.

"Because it is. There must be something wrong…" Oliver took the phone and turned it off. "Apparently my satellite picked something up…"

* * *

"Ok, so Oliver needs us," Clark said when he came back to Lois's hospital room about ten minutes since they'd all left. "But first we need to get you checked out. They say there's no need to keep you here. It's still early in the pregnancy and there is no danger either to you or the baby."

"That's good to hear. Let me just put some normal clothes on and we can go."

"Ok, I'll go to the reception and have them prepare the files." Clark left again.

As he waited, Tess came to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Tess, I thought you were long gone," he said, surprised.

"I needed to speak with you first. Alone," she emphasized.

"Sure, what is it? Are you sure you can go meet Lex?"

"Better me than you. I can bet he's waiting for you with kryptonite by his side."

Clark sighed. "That could be about right," he admitted.

"Clark," Tess voice grew more urgent and serious now, "I need to tell you something… I… I love you… but I know there will never be anything between us and I accept that. I do. I just needed to get that off my chest… and… I am right, aren't I? There won't…"

"Tess…" Clark said and stopped, not really knowing how to deal with it or what to say to her. "I… love my wife and I have a child on its way."

"Lois is pregnant?" Tess asked, her face crumbling.

"Wait… you didn't know?"

"No, I'm hardly around her and even though I'm a JL member, they never talk about the private matters with me. It's ok. I dealt with it. I know they will never trust me enough, but… I have to admit, it comes as a shock."

"I'm sorry, I didn't want you to find out this way."

"It's ok. It just… hurts a little bit more, but I'll deal with it. I dealt with what Lex did to me, didn't I?"

Clark didn't have a heart to tell her that she really didn't. She loved him? Maybe she did on her own way, but she knew from the very beginning that there would never be anything between them. He suspected she preferred to just holding onto the fantasy with him than to reality. This way no one could use her again or hurt her.

"There's only one thing I can do now, Clark. I can protect your identity. I can protect Lois's identity and that innocent child. I will take care of Lex."

"Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me," Clark confessed.

She just smiled sadly and rose to her tiptoes, so she could place a kiss on his cheek.

"Take care, Clark," she said and walked away.

"She loves you," he suddenly heard his wife's voice coming from behind him.

"You heard all that?"

"Enough to get the idea. It's alright, Clark," she calmed him down. "I do believe that you love me and that you would never be with her. After all, who could blame her for loving you when there's so much to love?"

"Before we go all mushy and gooey, Oliver still sounded urgent. We need to get to Watchtower."

"Of course," Lois said and rolled her eyes. "Recently I feel like I'm living in a very bad sitcom. I wish I could just deliver the baby already and stopped having all those feelings. It's troubling."

"I know," Clark admitted and instantly earned a smack to the head. "I was joking! Au!"

"Like I could hurt you!"

"Well, aren't you forgetting something? Like that little blue thingy on your neck?"

"Oh, sorry… yeah, I did. Pregnant lady here."

"I think you overuse your condition."

"Are you carrying a small elephant inside you? Exactly, so shut up!"

"It's barely showing…"

"Well, it does show to me!"

* * *

"What is it, Ollie?" Clark and Lois finally walked inside Watchtower.

"Armageddon, basically," they got in answer.

"What?" Lois frowned. "What are you talking about?"

There were all there. The whole group the JL originated from. Oliver, Dinah, Bart, AC and Victor. All gathered in front of the biggest screen.

"That's the footage from my satellite," Oliver explained while pointing the screen. "And this is a huge meteor coming towards the Earth."

"You mean… like Kryptonian?" Clark asked. "Like a meteor shower?"

"No," Oliver denied, "just an old normal meteor. The worst thing is that when it collides with Earth… maybe a half of the population survives. Worst case scenario… boom. We're gone. Extinct just like the dinosaurs."

"Well, I have to stop it!" Clark clenched his fists. He would not let everyone he loved die. And he would not be left alone.

Now his wish for a threat that wouldn't come from the Luthors or Kryptonians seemed such a bad idea…

"How do you intend on stopping it?" Victor asked. "You can't fly."

Clark reddened. Probably because of Lois's presence as that was still stripping him off his powers.

"I believe it's high time you finally learn to," they heard a voice and they all turned to see the person of Marta Kent standing in the door. "Hello, Clark. Lois, you look radiant!" She made her way to them and hugged them. She was carrying a huge back with her. "I bring news from Washington. They want to shoot that meteor and that might result in millions of people dying. Oliver, do you have the power to shut them down?"

"Are you honestly asking me to stop the president of the United States from giving an order?" Oliver said with huge eyes.

"No, she's asking you to hack into their system and delay the process. Lucky for you, I can do it," Victor said with a smile and got to his computer, starting his work immediately.

"Can we just stop for a second and talk about how I can't actually fly?!" Clark asked.

"Oh, dear, this is what we've been preparing you with your father. This is the final test, can't you see it? You can pass it. You can learn how to fly. I believe in you," his mother told him with faith.

"I don't know how!" Clark raised his voice even more. "I would have to go to the Fortress and…"

"Then go. Maybe Jor-EL will manage to stir you up. Until that…" Martha took something out of her bag.

"What is that, mum?" Clark asked with elevated eyebrows.

There was lots of blue and red. And latex. And… there was the huge symbol shaped as "S" letter. It meant hope on Krypton.

"It's your suit. Time to show the world the real hero, Clark Kent."

"What… what…"

"Clark, it was also my idea," Lois said.

"You and my mum were talking about me behind my back?"

"Hey, I needed to wait for the right moment to tell you all," Lois huffed. "Now when Lex is back… or some guy that looks like him… we are in even greater danger. Who knows what Lionel number two left behind? What he found out before dying? We need to protect ourselves and we need to protect our child. The world needs a hero with a face to inspire the people. They will be hesitant to trust a guy who wears a mask."

"Well, yeah, we've talked about it about a week ago and I started wearing glasses to work and acting all…"

"That is not enough, Clark. You need to be the symbol of hope and for that you cannot wear black," Martha said. "Please, just try it on." She handed him over the costume.

"Clark, please," Lois repeated her mother-in-law's words. "For us. Just give it a chance."

Clark moaned quietly and finally took the suit.

* * *

"Ok, no, absolutely no. Clark was right. He looks completely wrong!" Lois protested when she finally saw her husband in his new suit.

"Why not?" Martha asked her, surprised. "I think it looks good on you, Clark. Do you?" She turned to the rest of the League.

They either laughed or kept their faces ambiguous.

"You see? Ridiculous. Thank you, mum, for trying, but no thank you."

"Why not? You need to give people hope. Make they remember you as a symbol, not a person."

"Wearing this? I'm not in circus!"

"Can I remind you all that the world is about to end and you're arguing about a piece of clothing?!" Oliver got angry.

"Well, take a better look!" Clark got angrier.

"I have a costume myself and I have no problems with that."

"So do I," Dinah shrugged, backing Oliver up.

"But this… this is so…" Clark started.

"…tight!" Lois suddenly burst, interrupting him. "You can't show yourself to all that women out there while wearing this!"

Martha started laughing.

"So that what this is all about? It's too tight?"

"Just look at his crutch!" Lois started and reddened immediately. "Sorry, Martha, that didn't come out right as you're his mother…"

"It's ok, dearie." She was still amused.

"Lois, you are the only one and you always will be, you know that," Clark told her while making his way to her and cupping her face.

Of course, she started to cry again.

"I know, I'm just… jealous, I guess," she admitted. "There'll be plenty of women to save and they will all… look at this."

"But they will never really see me for who I really am," Clark reassured her. "Believe me."

"Got it!" they heard Victor's exclaim. "You need to go save us _now_!" he turned to Clark. "Not that bad," he eyed the suit. "I don't know how much long I can hold this block."

"Ok," Clark nodded, forgetting about the suit at the moment. Lives were more important. "I love you," he told Lois and kissed her.

"I love you, too!" she said it back and watched as he made few steps away from her and finally speeded off.

There was sniffing and this time it didn't come from Lois.

It was Martha.

"My boy… he will be the hero," she said. "The one I've always believe he could."

* * *

"Great job! Great job, Lane!" Perry was just telling her as he was holding the newest edition of the Planet. The one revealing Superman to the world. Superman wearing his suit and saving the planet from its doom. "You're promoted! Kent, you are, too! After all, both your names are under the story!... The Daily Planet naming the greatest hero on Earth! I can't! This is the happiest day of my life!" Perry disappeared in his office.

"Well, he's in awfully and strangely good mood," Clark said while coming towards his wife, knocking some guy off on his way to keep his disguise. "I bet tomorrow he'll be back to his old self with all the yelling and pushing Jimmy around."

"Yeah, but I'll request Olsen as our photographer on our next lead. I feel he has a potential."

"Yeah, me too." Clark leaned down to kiss her.

She remembered the night of his final victory. He'd saved the Earth while pushing the meteor away and showed himself to the world as Superman. And he'd been flying.

"Although I would prefer a different name for myself," he frowned as he pulled away from her, glancing at the paper lying on the desk.

"Well, it's from Nietzsche, so don't you get all cocky with me. Besides, it matches the S you're wearing."

"That S means hope!"

"I know, but I can't name you with a Kryptonian word and expect people to understand it!"

She shifted her eyes back to her computer screen that showed the newest sensation on the Net along with Superman saving people.

She sighed.

"He'll always be there, hanging over us, won't he?" she asked, referring Lex that world thought he just came out of a coma, suffering from massive amnesia.

"Probably," Clark agreed. "But we have to remember that though this guy looks like him, it's not really Lex. The real Lex was the one you met and talked to. He'll be the one in our hearts. This here," he pointed the computer screen, "is a murderer. He killed Tess."

"And sadly we can't prove it! Argh, it kills me!... Do you have to patrol tonight?"

"Yes, Superman needs to make an appearance, at least for a few hours."

The Justice League had been recruiting more and more vigilantes recently, but Clark still had to be out there, using his powers for good.

"Ok, then come home," she said, her voice clearly indicating what she meant. "We need to vent our frustration."

The first time he'd come home from saving the world she'd got to him and that suit was so tight that she'd ended up bringing him to a painful erection while stroking him through it. Then, they'd had a wonderful night when they'd actually stripped.

"'will do!" Clark grinned and winked at her.

* * *

When Clark walked out of the Planet, chasing a lead, his cell rang.

"Victor? Hi!" He picked it up. "Something's wrong?"

"Clark, I examined your blood samples from those times you were human and then when you weren't," Victor notified. Taking a sample when his skin was impenetrable was painful for him as he had to have green kryptonite near him, but the process hadn't taken too long.

"Yeah, what's with them?" Clark asked, not really noticing the weird sound of Victor's voice.

"Clark, the moment you stop being exposed to blue kryptonite your body is regenerating, to be more specific, your cells are."

"What does it mean?"

"It mean that… you can live forever and never get old."

Clark jerked to a stop. His phone crashed as he squeezed it too hard with his hand.

* * *

**A/N **The next chapter will probably be the last one.


	23. Part 13 - Human

**Part 13**

**Human**

"Ok, just spill it," Lois said when sitting next to her husband on the couch. She'd just laid their daughter, Chloe, to bed, so she would have her afternoon nap. "I can see that something has been bothering you for some time now. I decided to give you space until you just tell me, but I'm really worrying here, Clark. What is it?"

It'd been four years since he'd found out about him not getting any older. Four years since his conversation with Victor over the phone.

And through those four years a lot had happened.

Superman had become a beacon of hope, a hero that everybody looked up to. A symbol. He had created a legend that would live on for a very long time and then would be carried on by the next generations of heroes that Oliver had been preparing.

And Clark had been so busy all this time that just now he started worrying about the other predicament.

Today Lois and Clark were supposed to attend an uncovering of Superman statue in the city. Of course at some point Clark would discreetly disappear, so Superman could show up.

And right now instead of celebrating they were sitting on the sofa. She was waiting for his answer and he was afraid to tell her. After all, he'd known for four whole years and never revealed that secret to her.

"Clark, you're scaring me," she said and held his hand, gently stroking his knuckles. "Just tell me what it is."

"Lois, I…" he started, but stopped. Didn't know what to say. Or maybe he knew exactly what he should say, but was afraid it would destroy everything they shared. "I'm sorry, there's something I should've told you years ago…"

Lois's eyes widened and she took her hand away.

"You…" she started, but stopped, "you… are you trying to tell me that you weren't honest with me like we promised each other?" she finally finished.

"I'm sorry, but yes, I wasn't. I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?!"

"You'll wake Chloe…"

"Afraid of what?" she asked again, lowering her voice, because he actually had a point. Chloe without her nap was a crabby Chloe.

"Afraid of the future we'll have," he said, avoiding her eyes.

"What do you mean? I thought we had a wonderful future ahead of us!"

"Lois, I… I don't age," he finally managed to get it out. "I will… I will stay as you see me… probably indefinitely or… as long as the sun rises."

"What… what do you… WHAT?!" This time she completely forgot about Chloe sleeping in her room upstairs. All that mattered was that her world, her dreams and plans for the future were just destroyed. All she thought she knew was… a lie. "And you thought it would be ok to keep _this _from me?!" She jumped to her feet, looking at him in exactly the same he was afraid she might. Like he just betrayed her. Well, he did.

"Lois…" Clark also stood up, but she made a step back when he wanted to get closer to her.

"You waited _four years_ to tell me this?! What about honesty?! Did you really think it wasn't that important? I don't want to get old and wrinkly when you… Oh, God!" She covered her mouth with her hands and stumbled backwards.

Clark wanted to catch her, but she pushed him away.

"You'll be disgusted by me!" She cried out.

"Lois, no, of course I will not. I love you. It's not just skin deep, you know that. I love you for who you are."

"What kind of a difference it makes?!" she asked and made her way upstairs, running from him.

He could hear that she was crying.

And he was the reason. He never meant to hurt her. _Never. _Yet, he did. Inside he was human just like everyone else. Only his body was alien, too strong, not prepared to live a human life.

* * *

They still had to make an appearance at the event as Perry asked them to cover the story. It was their job, most of all it was Clark's job to appear there as Superman.

They arrived there, not talking on the way at all. Clark wanted to say a lot of things, but knew she needed some quiet time to adjust to the news. He wished he'd told her sooner, but everyday he'd watched her happy, planning their future, a second child, their careers… schools, colleges… She'd been so happy that even a shell that was living as Lex Luthor didn't taint that. She'd had to interview him a couple of times and Clark could feel that Lex was very much interested in his wife, only she'd never given him any reason not to keep their relations strictly professional and Luthor had gotten the idea. Clark couldn't be more proud of Lois, she'd turned out to be so strong, so brave…

And now he was the one hurting her, taking that strength away. She was a woman, she cared about her look. But even if the situation was reversed Clark knew he would feel the same. He wouldn't like to get old when she would be still young. What could he do? Wear the blue kryptonite permanently? But again, if he took it off only once the process would be reversed and he would be young again, his cells regenerating. And there would be no coming back to the older age while she… And Superman. He was still helping people. It was true that all the new vigilantes handed things pretty good without him. He knew because he'd taken days off before to be with his family. Could the world get used to the fact that Superman was gone? Were they ready to treat him as symbol for every hero there was out there?

"We're here," he heard Lois's emotionless voice that woke him up from his reverie. Then she just jumped out of the car and left him inside.

He sighed.

First he would need to make sure they were still together.

* * *

The day that was supposed to be about celebration turned out to be the exact opposite.

Lois didn't talk to him through the whole event and when they finally came back home she paid the nanny that had stayed with Chloe and turned away, ready to walk upstairs.

"Lois, honey, wait… I think we need to talk," Clark stopped her when placing his hand on her arm and gently turning her around, so she would face him. "Honey, please." He cupped her face, but she still refused to look at him.

"What do you want me to say?" she finally spoke, her eyes still far ahead. "That I don't regret falling in love with you? Don't regret marrying you? Or maybe that I am _terrified_ when I think that in a few years I will be too old for you. The difference will eventually be noticeable. I will be too ugly some day, too…" She was clearly doing everything she could not to cry.

"Lois…" Clark forced her to look at him. "I will not leave you."

"Oh, I know that. You are too good and too noble for that. Even if we some day…" She shook her head. "How many days to enjoy ourselves do we really have, Clark? Do you think I will let you see me without make up or naked when I'm forty and you still look twenty something? Do you think our relationship, our marriage survives that? And can you imagine watching your own children getting older than you are?"

That hurt. Really, really hurt. Just when he thought the pain would finally stop.

"Wait… children?" he asked, frowning. "You still want to try again? Even after everything you've just found out?"

"I don't have to try, Clark," she said with a sigh. "It's ironic, isn't it? I had my suspicions, but when you told me that you won't… I made sure and I am pregnant. We're going to have another baby and you will watch it die some day," she said bitterly and tried to get away from him.

"Lois!" he stopped her while grabbing her shoulders. "I will not lose you! I won't live without you! I won't watch you die! God, I won't watch our children die!" he said, emotions running through his face.

"Well, you will have to, won't you? And just when I thought my life would finally be truly happy…" She shook her head and this time successfully freed herself from the hold he had on her.

"I'll use golden kryptonite," Clark suddenly said.

"What?" Lois was shocked. "You can't!"

"Yes, I can!"

"No, you can't! The world needs you! Tonight we saw a proof just how much and you can't quit now! They need their hero!" She turned around and ran up the stairs.

About ten minutes passed before Clark finally moved from his spot and followed her. Half way through the corridor he heard his daughter.

"But mummy! I want to hear about Superman!"

"Oh, honey, I've been telling you so many stories… why don't we just switch to something more classic? What do you say for Snow White or Sleeping…"

"So tell something about aunt Chloe!"

Clark didn't even realized he was smiling. They decided with Lois to tell Chloe everything about her father's origin without actually making her realize Superman was Clark. That way when she was old enough they would just reveal the last piece of a puzzle to her. They also wanted Chloe's legacy to still be known, so they turned most of meteor freak stories into fairy tales their daughter could hear. It wasn't hard as they cut out the parts not suitable for children.

"Ok… baby," he heard Lois sighing heavily.

"Mummy, are you alright?"

The was silence for a moment and Clark used his X-Ray vision. He was struck by seeing Lois hugging Chloe tightly and sobbing into her hair.

"Mummy, why are you crying?" Chloe asked, not understanding a thing. "Are you in pain?"

Lois just squeezed her eyes shut and kept sobbing, frantically holding the little girl.

Clark stopped looking. Back out.

Found himself heavily propping against the wall.

He felt tears in his eyes and pain in his heart.

It was always coming down to one thing. No matter how hard he tired, no matter how good his intentions were and how much he loved, he _always _hurt the ones he loved most.

He couldn't keep causing them pain. Not anymore.

* * *

Superman had already become everything Clark wanted him to be. It gave people hope. It was justice. It was goodness. He inspired the world and now there were vigilantes everywhere, fighting off the crime. And its rate was gradually dropping, too.

He'd already helped the registration act pass and had a monument in the city.

It even came to that that he no longer thought of Superman as of himself. He thought of somebody else, a symbol. Everybody could be one. It didn't take superpowers to help people and that was also something he'd taught the Justice League.

He'd already fulfilled his destiny.

He might be an alien, but since he remembered he was raised as a human and he was human at heart. He had feelings. He loved and grieved. And he didn't want to be the reason of grief to his family.

Oliver promised he buried it deep down as it couldn't be destroyed.

Well, maybe there was a reason for that. Maybe the existence of this rock had a purpose. Maybe everything had. Maybe that was just another life lesson he had to learn. Everything in life ended. Sooner or later.

He couldn't find it… where would it be? If he was Oliver, where would he…

And then it hit him.

Of course, under the green ones.

He grabbed his phone and called Bart.

* * *

"Oh, man, no, you're crazy. You can't do that!" Bart denied. "And I will not help you. No way!"

"Bart, listen to me! Do you _understand_?!" Clark roared as he grabbed his shoulders. "I will stay like this forever! I will outlive everyone I care about! Maybe I will never die! Maybe the Earth gets destroyed or the people extinct and I'm… I'm still here!"

"Clark, wait a moment… have you thought this…"

"I'm sick of causing pain! I lost count how many times my wife cried because of me! She shouldn't have! I shouldn't have given her a reason to! If I really am a loving husband why would I?"

"Clark, you're scaring me, man…"

"Ok, I'll dig it up myself! As soon as I touch the right one, the green ones won't hurt me!" Clark said and started digging, then he recoiled as his fingers touched the kryptonite.

"Oh, man, you're gonna hurt yourself!"

"Then fucking help me!"

* * *

It hurt.

It hurt like nothing he'd ever felt in his life.

As soon as he touched it it was like he was stripped bare off all his senses.

He was in agony and he was pretty sure he was screaming, but couldn't hear himself. Maybe there was no sound coming out of his mouth? Or maybe his superhearing was being stripped off of him as every other power he had. He _knew _it. He was right. It was happening.

And there was no coming back.

He felt another wave of pain, this time piercing and slashing his chest. It was even worse. He was on fire, his flesh was being burnt off him. The basic structure of his whole existence changed…

…until he finally lost consciousness.

* * *

"Buddy! Can you hear me?! Clark?!" he heard Bart screaming somewhere close. "Clark! Wake up!... Oh god, oh God. Oliver's gonna kill me… Wake up! You need to live! You have a child… a wife… Clark…"

Clark opened his eyes.

"Oh, thank god!... How are you feeling? It was… it was terrible to watch you like that. You were screaming but there was no sound…"

So he couldn't speak back then either. But it made sense since his lungs capacity had been enormous, too.

"I…" Clark finally spoke and looked around, then sat up on the grass he'd been lying on. "I am… I think I'm human," he finished when he raised his hands and looked at them.

"Dude, you look exactly the same," Bart said. "Are you sure you haven't just gone crazy?"

Clark slowly raised up, standing on his feet, breathing the fresh air of a chilly evening.

_Chilly,_ he could actually feel _cold._

"Bart, hit me," he turned to his friend.

"What? No, no way! I won't risk breaking my hand!"

"Come on! Just do it! I promise your hand will be fine."

Bart rolled his eyes and punched Clark in the stomach. To his astonishment his larger friend bent in half, catching breath.

"Wow!" Bart exclaimed. "Wow! And sorry, buddy, it probably seemed harder as I can superspeed and… you're really human."

"Yes, Bart, I really am." Clark smiled. "And I couldn't be happier."

"Well, Oliver won't be happy. I can tell you that."

"Screw Oliver!"

"Can I tell him _that_?" Bart asked, grinning. "I can't insult him, but when I'm just quoting…"

"Do whatever you want, Bart. I need to come back home." Clark patted his arm.

He was just human. Forever.

* * *

"Lois?" Clark opened the door to their bedroom.

It was dark, so he couldn't make out the details, but he could hear her crying.

As he closed the door behind him and got closer to the bed he made out her silhouette. She was lying down in embryo position, hugging his pillow and sobbing into it.

"Lois," he said, his voice strangled in his throat.

He got to bed and put his arms around her.

At first she wanted to get away from him, but she quickly surrendered, apparently deciding that she needed him there more than she was angry at him.

Only as soon as she turned around and snuggled into his chest, she started crying even more.

"Oh, honey, I am so sorry," he said, stroking her hair and being sick of repeating those words. It was so common of him now to apologize. And he wasn't even evil. He never had any control of those things. He never hurt anyone deliberately. Yet it felt like he kept doing nothing else but this.

He felt something hard on her neck and realized it was the blue kryptonite. He ripped it off and threw to the ground.

"What are you doing? I'm pregnant," she snuffed.

"I know," he said and kept stroking her hair. "And that will be a very happy baby, just like Chloe is."

"Clark… where were you? You just stormed out. Where the hell did you go?" she asked, her whole body tensing.

"Lois, I…" He couldn't tell her the painful truth for four years and now he couldn't tell the good news?

She shifted, then he lost his hold on her as she sat up and turned the lamp on.

"What is it?" She turned back to him, looking at him closely. "What did you do?" She could feel it in her guts. Something happened.

He sighed and sat up as well. Then he raised his hand and crashed it into the headboard of the bed.

Lois flinched, but then she was left in shock as the board actually hurt him, not the other around.

"Oh… my… God… Clark, what did you do?! Please, tell me you have blue kryptonite in your pocket!"

"I don't."

"Clark, what did you do?" she asked, her face red from tears, her eyes widely opened, no make up and yet, she couldn't be more beautiful to him at the moment.

"I ended our misery. I ended _your _misery."

"You did this for me?! Clark… but… no! Those powers were who you are!"

"No, _you are_," he told her, cupping her face and looking her deep in the eyes. "You are my life, you are making me. With you gone… my life would have no purpose."

"What about others? What about all the people that need you?!"

"They'll be safe. There's enough of heroes out there."

"Yes, but only Bart can superspeed and his skin is not impenetrable."

"Neither is mine now."

"Clark! I… I can't be the reason you did this. I would hate to force a decision like that on you and then watch you miserable. Those powers… maybe you thought you hated them, but they were a part of you."

"I love you and I did it as much for me as I did it for you," he reassured her. "I will never regret it. I always resented being different. Yes, I did a lot of good, but this was not the life I wanted. I think I've done enough. I have fulfilled my destiny and now I have a different one. With you and our children." He placed his hand to her stomach.

"I'm not worth it," she said anyway.

"Oh, you are worth _everything_ to me," he said with passion. His eyes so intense she felt like they were going to burn her. Only they would never set fire ever again. "You are special. I love you and there's no one like you on this Earth. There's no one like you in the whole galaxy and if there's one good thing that came out of me being sent here alone… it's that it led me to you."

"So it's really… final… no going back…" Lois said slowly, her crying stopped.

"Yes, no coming back for us."

His hands were still on her face, so he brought her closer to kiss her.

Suddenly, she started laughing. She was happy. He made her happy.

"We're going to have a normal family," she said.

"Yes, we are," he confirmed, placing kisses down her neck.

"We'll be a normal family. Reporters. Parents. Lovers. And we'll go through life together."

"Yes, we will."

"And you know I would never ask you to give your powers for me?"

"I know. That is why I know you're worth it."

She smiled again and brought his face up to meet her lips again.

"So… you don't mind me as human in bed, do you?" he asked.

"Are you kidding me? I think I've proved enough to you that I want _you._ My only concern is that you had to give up so much. I never wanted to be the reason for grounding you."

"You're not. You make me fly," he said and pulled her shirt up. She took the hint and raised her arms, so he could remove it.

"I love you," she said as they finally laid back on the bed, this time naked.

"I love you, to," he told her as he slid himself inside her body.

Here was his home. Here was his meaning. And he knew he made the best choice. He would never regret it.

Years ago Lois would've never thought she would end up here, in this place, with Clark. She'd thought she would be Lex's wife, have children, that she would be happy with him. Only life had that tendency to surprise you. It always brought what you needed, not what you wanted. And what you needed and were destined to be was far more better than you imagined.

There was so much love between them as they were having sex that it reminded them of the intensity of their copulating in the past. The very first one and then, when she'd thought he'd been dead.

Now it was another beginning, another first time for them as he was to remain human.

In that very moment they both understood they finally got their happy ending. They were finally as happy as they always wanted to be.

When this night Lois was falling sleep in Clark's strong arms, she knew she couldn't be happier with anyone else.

Clark was the one she loved and she would never love again. He and their children were her reasons to get up in the morning. The reasons to go on, to finally be happy.

It turned out that light could come back to her even when everybody from her past close to her was gone.

She had all she needed right there, in this house.

* * *

**THE END**

* * *

**A/N **I'm exhausted with this story. And I miss Lex like hell. So I just start off writing about Lex lol

In a matter of days _Looking in the Mirror_ will be published

(wow this story took 180 pages. Only JeXVille beats it with about 325).


	24. author's note

**Author's Note:**

_JeXVille -_ main fic Lex/Jessica (if you hate what writers of Smallville did to Lex, read!) (at the end alternative ending with Oliver called _Jellie_)

_Becoming_ - version with Clark/Jessica

_Looking in the Mirror _- spin off to _Becoming/__JeXVille_ _- _Lex/Jessica in the mirror world

_Meant to Be - _spin off to _Becoming/JeXVille - _what would've happened in Clark had died in _Hidden._


End file.
